Lesson 13—Subject-verb agreement 1. Subject-verb agreement One of the most common grammatical mistakes tested on the SAT Writing is subject-verb disagreement. The children is playing in the park. Here, the verb is does not agree in number with its subject children. Children is plural, but is is singular. The verb should be changed to are. Catching subject-verb disagreement is easier when the verb immediately follows the subject. SAT Writing questions, however, aren’t usually so easy. They will include more complicated sentences in which the verb doesn’t immediately follow the subject. You should be able to pick out the subject and verb of each clause in a sentence, and determine whether or not they agree. It helps to know the tricky ways that sentences can hide subject-verb disagreement. 2. Inverted sentences In most clauses, the subject comes before the verb. Sometimes, however, a clause is inverted—its subject comes after the verb. Sentences that start with There is or There are, for instance, are inverted. To check subject-verb agreement in these sentences, it helps to uninvert them. There is many flies in the barn. This sentence is inverted. The verb is comes before its subject flies. The word There serves as a dummy subject, holding the place for the real subject, flies. Since there can be either plural or singular, you can’t tell that the sentence has a problem after reading just the first two words. To see the problem more clearly, uninvert the sentence. Simply rearrange the words, and eliminate the dummy subject, so that the subject comes before the verb. Many flies is in the barn. The sentence is now right side up. The verb is immediately follows the subject flies, and you have eliminated the dummy subject. Now the mistake is even more obvious. The verb should be changed to are. www.cracksat.net 3. Intervening words Sometimes a subject and verb are separated by a bunch of other words. You need to be able to ignore the intervening words and focus just on the subject and verb. The columnist, like so many other experts, were convinced that the new program would fail. If you read this sentence quickly, it may not sound wrong because the verb were convinced, which is plural, immediately follows the noun experts, which is also plural. But experts is not the subject of the verb. It is part of a modifying phrase between commas. This kind of modifying phrase is called an interrupter. Every good sentence must remain grammatical even when its interrupters are removed. In other words, an interrupter can never contain the main subject and verb of the sentence. Remove the interrupter and look again. The columnist were convinced that the new program would fail. Now the mistake is easier to spot. The verb should be was convinced. 4. Tricky subjects Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether a subject is singular or plural. Here are some rules to help. The word and combines two nouns into a plural subject, as in Jane and Bob are sick. Any nouns within interrupters, however, are not included in the subject, as in Jane, as well as Bob, is sick. The words neither and either are singular when they stand alone as subjects. Neither is very expensive. Either is sufficient. www.satpanda.com They are also singular when they are part of a neither of or either of phrase. Neither of the boys is ready to take the test. However, the phrases neither A nor B and either A or B have the same number as the noun in B. Either Ben or his brothers have taken the car. People often confuse the numbers of the following words, so here’s a list to keep them straight. Subject-verb agreement practice Next to each noun or noun phrase, write “S” if it is singular and “P” if it is plural. 1. Neither rain nor snow _____ 2. A crowd of rowdy fans _____ 3. Media _____ 4. Criterion _____ 5. One or two _____ 6. Everything _____ 7. Either of the candidates _____ 8. Phenomena _____ www.cracksat.net Circle the subject in each sentence, and choose the correct verb. 9. The flock of geese (was/were) startled by the shotgun blast. 10. The data on my computer (was/were) completely erased when the power failed. 11. Neither of the twins (is/are) allergic to penicillin. 12. Much of what I hear in those lectures (go/goes) in one ear and out the other. 13. Amy, along with Jamie and Jen, (is/are) applying to Mount Holyoke. 14. Amid the lilies and wildflowers (were/was) one solitary rose. 15. Either David or his brothers (is/are) in charge of bringing the drinks. 16. There (is/are) hardly even a speck of dirt left on the carpet. 17. “Stop right there!” (shout/shouts) the Bailey Brothers, who are standing in front of me. 18. There (were/was) at least a hundred people in the room. 19. There (is/are), in my opinion, far too many smokers in this restaurant. 20. Over that hill (is/are) thousands of bison. 21. Never before (have/has) there been such voices heard on the public airwaves. Label each verb in the following sentences with a “V” and each subject with an “S.” If any verbs are incorrect, cross them out and write the correct form in the blank. www.satpanda.com www.cracksat.net 5. Trimming Sentences Spotting subject-verb disagreement is easier when you ignore the non-essential parts of a sentence. At College Hill Coaching, we call this process “trimming,” and we teach it as an essential writing tool. It does more than just help you to spot subject-verb disagreement. Trimming isolates the most important part of each sentence, the subject-predicate “core,” so that you can check whether your writing is clear and effective. How to trim a sentence Let’s examine a sentence and see how trimming helps you to improve it. My chief concern with this budget, which I have not voiced until today, are the drastic cuts in school funds. Step 1: Cross out all non-essential prepositional phrases. Remember that a prepositional phrase is a phrase that starts with a preposition and includes the noun or noun phrase that follows, like from sea to shining sea, in the beginning, and with hat in hand. My chief concern , which I have not voiced , are the drastic cuts . Step 2: Cross out all interrupting phrases. An interrupting phrase is a modifying phrase, usually separated from the main sentence by commas, that interrupts the flow of the sentence. In this case, the interrupter is the phrase between the commas. My chief concern cuts , , are the drastic . Step 3: Cross out any other non-essential modifiers and modifying phrases. Remember that modifiers are adjectives and adverbs, as well as modifying phrases like participial phrases (see Lesson 12). (Most modifiers are not essential to the basic meaning of a sentence, but some are, such as www.satpanda.com smart in the sentence Martha is smart. In this case, smart is the predicate adjective, and therefore essential to the sentence.) In our sentence, the non-essential modifiers are chief and drastic. My cuts concern , , are the . What remains is the core of the sentence: My concern are the cuts. The most obvious problem here is the subject-verb disagreement—concern is singular, but are is plural. To make it more grammatical, you may want to simply change the verb: My concern is the cuts. But this isn’t a great sentence either. The concern is singular, but the cuts are plural, so equating them seems illogical. Furthermore, the verb is is very weak, and doesn’t convey much meaning. Trimming the sentence shows us that the core of the sentence is weak. It should be reworded with a stronger verb. Although I have not said so until today, I object to the drastic cuts in school funds that are proposed in this budget. Trimming sentences practice Trim each of the following sentences and correct any verb problems. 1. The team of advisors, arriving ahead of schedule, were met at the airport by the Assistant Prime Minister. 2. The flock of birds that darted over the lake were suddenly an opalescent silver. 3. Carmen, along with her three sisters, are unlikely to be swayed by arguments supporting David’s position. 4. Juggling the demands of both school and my social agenda often seem too much to bear. 5. Others on the committee, like the chairman Amanda Sanders, is concerned about the lack of attention given to school safety. 6. One in every three Americans agree strongly with the statement: “Anyone who would run for political office is not worth voting for.” 7. The fact that humans have committed so many atrocities have forced some historians to adopt a cynical perspective on human nature. Trim each sentence; then revise it to make it clearer and more forceful, changing the subject and verb, if necessary. www.cracksat.net 8. Nearly inevitably, advancements, or those being popularly regarded as such, have to do with modifications, not overhaul. 9. The development of the new country’s governmental system was affected in a negative regard by the lack of cohesiveness of the revolutionary army. 6. Tips for improving your essay When writing your essay, pay close attention to the subject-verb pair in each sentence. Trim your sentences mentally to make sure that the subject and verb agree and convey your idea clearly and forcefully. You may not be able to do this for every sentence, but do it at least for important sentences like thesis statements. The lack of economic programs and no big country being ready to join it symbolized the problems the League of Nations had in getting established. Trim the sentence and check it for agreement and strength. www.satpanda.com The lack and no country being ready to join it symbolized the problems. Yikes! That does not convey a clear and forceful idea. Revise it using a stronger subject-verb-object. The League of Nations never established itself because it lacked viable economic programs and the support of the larger countries. Try to avoid “dummy” subjects, because they usually produce weak sentences. There is a lot of concern among the teachers about extending the school day. This sentence is weak because of the dummy subject and weak verb—There is. The logical subject of the sentence is the teachers. The teachers are very concerned about extending the school day. 7. Tips for the multiple-choice questions If a verb is underlined on a multiple-choice question, trim the sentence to check that it agrees with its subject. The ability to trim a sentence is one of the most useful editing skills, so perfect your trimming skills with the exercises on the preceding pages. The thrill of exploring undersea caves and with fish and dolphins beyond Alicia . Most students will not spot a problem with this sentence right away. If you trim away the prepositional phrase of exploring undersea caves and swimming with fish and dolphins, the error is easier to catch: The thrill were beyond what Alicia had even dreamed. Clearly, the verb does not agree with its subject and (B) should be changed to was. Also, make sure that you can tell when a sentence is inverted, and can uninvert it to check subject-verb agreement. There www.cracksat.net no more twelve but certainly more than five rabbits currently Farmer Bradley’s hutch, and they all every day. The dummy subject there indicates that this sentence is inverted. If we omit the dummy subject and uninvert the sentence, it reads No more than twelve but certainly more than five rabbits is currently occupying Farmer Bradley’s hutch, and they all must be fed every day. The verb should clearly be changed to are, so the correct answer is (A). Answer Key Subject-verb agreement practice 1. S 2. S 3. P 4. S 5. P 6. S 7. S 8. P 9. was (the subject is flock) 10. were (the subject is data) 11. is (the subject is neither) 12. goes (the subject is much) 13. is (the subject is Amy) www.satpanda.com 14. was (the subject is rose) 15. are (the subject is brothers) 16. is (the subject is speck) 17. shout (the subject is Bailey Brothers) 18. are (the subject is people) 19. are (the subject is smokers) 20. are (the subject is thousands) 21. have (the subject is voices) 22. S-every, V-were (change to was) 23. S-a theater and a toy store; V-has been (change to have been) 24. S-either Eric or his brother, V-is (no change) 25. S-proceeds, V-goes (change to go) 26. S-years, V-is (change to are) 27. S-neither, V-were (change to was) 28. S-technology, V-have transformed (change to has transformed) 29. S-player, V-were (change to was) 30. S-sponsorship, V-have garnered (change to has garnered) 31. S-Neither the children nor their parents, V-utters (change to utter); S-Mrs. Denny, V-tells (no change) 32. S-your strength training and your diet, V-is (change to are) Trimming sentences practice 1. The team were (change to was) met. 2. The flock were (change to was) silver. 3. Carmen are (change to is) unlikely to be swayed. 4. Juggling the demands seem (change to seems) too much to bear. 5. Others is (change to are) concerned. 6. One agree (change to agrees) with the statement: “Anyone who would run for political office is not worth voting for.” 7. The fact have forced (change to has forced) some historians to adopt a cynical perspective. 8. Trimmed: Advancements have to do with modification. The verb (have to do with) is weak, vague, and inactive, and the subject (advancements) and object (modification) are abstract and vague. To improve the sentence, think about the intended meaning of the sentence, and use stronger and less abstract terms. Here’s a good revision: Typically, societies progress by making small modifications to their institutions, not by overhauling them completely. 9. Trimmed: The development was affected. The verb (was affected) is weak, passive, and vague. 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