PSAT/SAT PRACTICEEssential Skills for the Writing and Language Test

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (SVA)

• A verb must agree in number with its subject. REMEMBER: The agreement of a verb with its subject is not affected by any interrupting words.

• The unlikely alliance between women’s rights groups and fundamentalist religious organizations are creating havoc in the political arena.

• Ignore the prepositional phrase that begins “between women’s […].”

• The subject of the sentence alliance is singular; thus, are should be is.

• Ralph, as well as his sisters, plan to participate in the three day conference on drug use among high school students.

• HINT: Ignore the words between the commas!

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (SVA)

• Each of the following sentences contains a subject-verb agreement error.• 1. Jeremy, along with several of his friends, intend to

bicycle from Berkeley to Los Angeles.• 2. Delayed broadcasting, not to mention close monitoring

of particular networks, are ways in which the government attempts to control television program content.• 3. A major advantage that large chain stores have over

small, independent retailers are the ability to sell products at a lower cost.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (SVA)

• Each of the following sentences contains a subject-verb agreement error.• 1. Jeremy, along with several of his friends, intends to

bicycle from Berkeley to Los Angeles.• 2. Delayed broadcasting, not to mention close monitoring

of particular networks, is a way in which the government attempts to control television program content.• 3. A major advantage that large chain stores have over

small, independent retailers is the ability to sell products at a lower cost.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (SVA)

• 4. The hours the average American spend working have increased dramatically since the 1970s, making it hard for many workers to get a good night’s sleep.• A. No change• B. have spent• C. spends• D. are spent• Choice C is the best answer because the verb “spends”

grammatically corresponds with the singular noun “American.” Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because, in each instance, the noun and verb do not grammatically correspond. The verbs “spend,” “have spent” and “are spent” would correspond with a plural noun, but not with the singular noun “American.”

“THERE” SENTENCE ERRORS (SVA)

• REMEMBER: If you see sentences or phrases beginning with the word there, be careful. The true subject appears after the verb.

• To the reporter’s surprise, there was few disagreements about what needed to be done to improve the agency’s tarnished image.

• HINT: The word disagreements determines the verb in this sentence.

• Each of the following sentences contains a subject-verb agreement error:

• 5. After I attempted to wash off the face paint, there was traces of color still evident on my forehead and chin.

• 6. Trying to recount the movie to his friend, Josh realized that there were one element of the plot which he couldn’t quite recall.

INVERTED STRUCTURE ERRORS (SVA)

• REMEMBER: In “inverted structure” sentences, the true subject appears after the verb.

• Viewed with suspicion by the NAACP was proposals to give tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools.

• HINT: Don’t be fooled into thinking that “NAACP” is the subject of the sentence. Turn the sentence around—”Proposals to give tax credits . . . were viewed . . . [.]”

Each of the following sentences contains a subject-verb agreement error: 7. Behind the school’s gym is the offices for part-time and assistant coaches. 8. Making the varsity basketball team and staying on the honor roll is some of Tania’s goals for the school year.

“NEITHER/NOR” AND “EITHER/OR” ERRORS (SVA)

• REMEMBER: In neither/nor and either/or sentences, the number of the verb is determined by whichever subject is closer to the verb.

• REMEMBER: When “neither” or “either” appears alone in a sentence, the verb should always be singular!

• Each of the following sentences contains a subject-verb agreement error:

• 9. Neither of those internet tabloid articles are worth reading.

• 10. Either the encyclopedia or the farmer’s almanac are a good source of information about season rainfall patterns.

PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT (PAA)

• Each of the following sentences contains a pronoun-antecedent agreement error. For each sentence, underline the antecedent and change the pronoun.

• 1. The Milky Way galaxy, which contains hundreds of stars, shines their brightest in the Aquarius constellation.

• 2. When the theater closed their doors to the public, the local residents were truly disappointed.

• 3. The members of the jury suddenly regretted its decision.

• 4. Comprised of experienced and talented singers, the choir deserved the excellent review given to them by the school newspaper.

• 5. The state regarded their educational system as one of the most effective and progressive in the entire nation.

PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT (PAA)• 6. The project enlists volunteers to transcribe the recipes: working

from our home computers, the volunteers type up the scanned handwritten recipes.• A. No Change• B. his or her• C. their• D. one’s

Choice C is the best answer because the possessive pronoun “their”grammatically corresponds to the plural “volunteers.” Choice A is incorrect because it provides a possessive pronoun that would correspond with “we,” which would only be valid if the writer were part of the group of volunteers. Choices B and D are incorrect because each provides a possessive pronoun for a singular noun, yet the subject of the clause is the pluralnoun “volunteers.”

PRONOUNS: CASE, AGREEMENT, CONSISTENCY AND CLARITY

• MEMORIZE THESE TWO RULES:• Put the subject of a sentence/clause

in the subjective case.• Sharon and he entered the wind

surfing contest.• Put the object of a verb and the

object of a preposition in the objective case.• The forest ranger gave him and me

some good advice about hiking.• The meal that Maria described to us

had been prepared by her.

VERBS: SEQUENCE, TENSE AND FORM

• REMEMBER: Don’t let the tense of an underlined verb contradict the tense of a verb in the non-underlined part of the sentence.

• He wore a pained expression as his parents embarrass him in front of his friends.

• Each of the following sentences contains an underlined verb sequence error:

• 1. When I yelled at him, he becomes angry.

• 2. More people will attend the meeting if it had not been scheduled during work hours.

• 3. Before she retired in May, Ms. Miller was coaching track and field for 15 years.

VERBS: SEQUENCE, TENSE AND FORM

• REMEMBER: Make sure the tense of the underlined verb agrees with the time at which the action takes place.

• Today, employees of the German Bundesbank worked for an institution that single-mindedly pursues the goal of safeguarding the currency.

• HINT: the word today determines the tense of the verbs in the sentence above.

• Each of the following sentences contains an underlined verb tense error:

• 4. In 1989, despite many predictions to the contrary, the stock market has crashed.

• 5. During the Renaissance, Italian nobles have created elaborate gardens to flaunt their wealth.

• 6. Throughout his life, the writer is tortured by horrible nightmares that informed characters and themes in many of his stories.

VERBS: SEQUENCE, TENSE AND FORM

• REMEMBER: Be sure to check the conjugation of the underlined verb, especially irregular verbs.

• Since he had spoke to no one at the office about his illness, he was surprised when nearly all of his coworkers offered their condolences.

• HINT: The past perfect for “speak” is “had spoken,” not “had spoke.”

• Each of the following sentences contains an underlined verb form error:

• 7. In order to soothe her throat, she drunk three cups of tea.

• 8. You would have won the race if you had ran faster.

• 9. Now that it is raining, I wish I had brung my umbrella along on the walk.

VERBS: SEQUENCE, TENSE AND FORM

• 10. Some recipes don’t fare well in the twenty-first century (one club member called her 1800s gingerbread a “molasses-laden brick”), while others had worked just fine.• A. No Change• B. Work• C. Worked• D. Could have worked• Choice B is the best answer because it provides a verb in the

present tense (“work”), which is consistent with the present tense verb “don’t fare” that opens the sentence.