Grammatical Agreements and Subject-Verb Agreement Study Guide

Overview of Grammatical Agreements in Revising and Editing

  • In the Revising and Editing section of the exam, there are four primary types of grammatical problems that require the use of an "agreement strategy."

  • An agreement strategy involves identifying the "partner" of a specific word. Once the partner is identified, you must choose the answer choice that correctly facilitates that specific relationship.

  • This process is compared to a game of "connect-the-dots," where the most critical skill is knowing how to identify the specific "dots" (the grammatical partners).

  • The four types of grammatical rules/agreements include:

    • Subject-verb agreement

    • Pronoun agreement

    • Verb tense agreement

    • Modifier placement

  • Mastery of these sections requires consistent practice, similar to improving performance in a video game.

Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA) Fundamentals

  • Essential Components: Every sentence consists of a subject noun and a predicate verb.

  • The Agreement Rule: These two elements share a mandatory relationship based on number:

    • If the subject noun is singular, the predicate verb must be in its singular form.

    • If the subject noun is plural, the predicate verb must be in its plural form.

  • Basic Examples (Subject in parentheses, verb underlined):

    • Singular: The (dog) is barking.

    • Singular: The (dog) bites the shoe.

    • Plural: The (dogs) are barking.

    • Plural: The (dogs) bite the shoe.

SHSAT Complexity and Filler Words

  • The SHSAT increases the difficulty of SVA questions by inserting "filler words" between the subject noun and the predicate verb.

  • The goal of these filler words is to cause the student to lose track of the original subject noun and select a verb based on a more proximal (but incorrect) noun.

  • The Proximity Error Example:

    • Simple error: "The books is not on sale." (Easily identified as incorrect).

    • Complex error: "The books, written by Mr. Monkey, is not on sale." (Incorrect).

    • Analysis: In the complex example, the singular noun "Mr. Monkey" is placed immediately before the singular verb "is." The brain often fails to register an error because it processes the singular noun-verb pair as a match, even though the true subject is the plural "books."

    • Corrected version: "The books, written by Mr. Monkey, are not on sale."

  • Additional Examples of SVA Errors:

    • Incorrect: "My friend, who is commended by all the teachers, are working hard."

    • Correct: "My friend, who is commended by all the teachers, is working hard."

    • Incorrect: "The angry group of students were thinking about escaping school."

    • Correct: "The angry group of students was thinking about escaping school."

Strategies and Hints for Identifying Subject-Verb Partners

  • Hint 1: Auxiliary Verbs: If an answer choice contains an auxiliary verb such as "is/was," "are/were," or "has/have," you should always trace the verb back to the subject noun to ensure they agree.

  • Hint 2: Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases:0

    • Prepositions typically indicate position.

    • A series of words following a preposition is almost never the subject of the sentence. These phrases are intentionally placed to trick the reader.

    • Common Prepositions to Watch For: of, at, in, for, on, with, by, from, to, about, over, below, above, between.

    • The 3-Step Strategy for Prepositions:

      1. Cross out the preposition and all words following it up to the verb.

      2. Underline the remaining subject noun and the predicate verb.

      3. Adjust the subject noun or the predicate verb so they agree.

    • Step-by-Step Example: "The dogs in the house of my brothers bark really loud."

      • Step 1: The (dogs) ~~in the house of my brothers~~ [bark] really loud.

      • Step 2: Underline (dogs) and [bark].

      • Step 3: Verification. If the subject was singular "dog," the verb would be changed to "barks." If the subject is plural "dogs," then "bark" remains correct.

  • Hint 3: The Comma Rule:

    • If you see a comma located to the left of the predicate verb, cross out all words between that comma and the preceding comma.

    • This eliminates descriptive interruptions (appositives or relative clauses) and allows you to connect the subject noun directly to the predicate verb.

    • Step-by-Step Example: "My four yachts, which were developed by my dad, travels very slowly."

      • Step 1: My four yachts, ~~which were developed by my dad~~, travels very slowly.

      • Step 2: Connect "yachts" (plural) to "travels" (singular form).

      • Step 3: Correct the verb to the plural form: "My four yachts… travel very slowly."

Special Rules and Exceptions

  • Each and Every: These words always take singular verbs, regardless of whether they are followed by plural nouns.

    • Example: "Each of the boys was absent."

    • Example: "Every man, woman, and child is alive."

  • Neither and Either: These pronouns always take singular verbs when they are the subject.

    • Example: "Neither of the boys is here."

    • Example: "Either the dog or the cat was in my room."

  • Gerunds: These are biological verbs ending in "-ing" that function as nouns. Gerunds always take singular verbs.

    • Example: "Jogging is a fun activity."

    • Example: "Studying every day was not what I had in mind."

  • The Ear Test (Singular vs. Plural): When uncertain if a word is singular or plural, add the word "is" or "are" immediately after it.

    • If it sounds correct with "is," the word is singular.

    • If it sounds better with "are," the word is plural.