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Subject-Verb Agreement

Table of Contents

• Subject-Verb Agreement
  • Table of Contents
    • Mastering SVA (Subject-Verb Agreement)
    • Strategy - Turn the Verb Phrase Into a Question
    • Prepositional Phrases
    • Additional Techniques

Consider the following example:

• The cats runs through the yard

What is wrong with that? Well, the subject (the thing or person) is plural, but the verb is not plural. Subjects have an "s" when they are plural, but plural verbs do not. It would make more sense if we had:

• The cats run through the yard

or

• The cat runs through the yard (single subject with single verb)

Here is an example from Xello:

• More than a century ago, there were thousands of types of apples being grown in the United States. Due to the consolidation of agriculture and the high cost of growing fruit, there are now many fewer kinds available to consumers; however, many varieties of apple ______ to be cultivated across the country.

The correct answer is "continue" because you have plural for the subject ("many varieties of apple") and you need plural for the verb (one without an "s").

Mastering SVA (Subject-Verb Agreement)

The key to mastering SVA is to identify the subject. Check out these two slightly different examples from Xello:

• The pie was set on the windowsill to cool.
• The garnishes for the pie were placed on the counter.

Notice how a small change in the sentence changes the subject.

Strategy - Turn the Verb Phrase Into a Question

Ask, "what is doing the verb phrase?" This will help you find the subject.

Here is an example from Xello:

• Teaching classes in several disciplines help educators enhance the flexibility and creativity of their instructional approaches. (help is the verb)

You can then ask:

• "What is helping educators enhance the flexibility and creativity of their approaches?"

The answer ... "teaching"

Because we can't say "teaching ... help" we must change the verb to helps.

Prepositional Phrases

The 7 most common prepositional words on the SAT are:

• in
• of
• for
• to
• by
• from
• on

These words form a relation between other words.

They can be used to point to the subject (before the prepositional word). Check out the following example from Xello:

• The garnishes for the pie were placed on the counter.

Once we know the subject and the verb we can cross everything out in between to check SVA:

• The garnishes for the pie were placed on the counter.

Try the following example:

• Psychologists point to a human fascination with watching spectacles that feature highly organized, coordinated movements of many individuals. To investigate this phenomenon, psychologist Amy Ransman regularly observes changing of the guard ceremonies in various European cities, noting that when the ringing of ceremonial church bells _______ the town square, huge crowds of tourists gather within one minute to watch the ceremony.

The correct answer is "fills" because the subject is the ringing. Note "of" - the prepositional word, which indicates "the ringing" is the subject.

Here is another question from Xello:

• Among the most difficult unsolved problems in mathematics, seven have been designated by the Clay Mathematics Institute as the most important for the advancement of mathematics, physics, and computer science. Among these is a conjecture proposed by mathematician Bernhard Riemann in the mid-1800s; though several solutions to the so-called Riemann Hypothesis _______ put forth, the problem remains an open one.

The correct answer here is have been because several solutions is plural and we must use a plural verb to match.

Additional Techniques

• Eliminate nonessential clauses

Here is an example from Xello:

• The dough, though slow to rise and difficult to knead, produces a wonderfully textured bread.

We could rewrite this as:

• The dough produces a wonderfully textured bread.

Here is another example from Xello:

• The temperature of a region will greatly impact the life it can support. In general, areas that remain cold for long periods will accommodate fewer plant and animal species than those that are warm for at least several months of the year. For example, subarctic regions, though home to an impressive array of flora and fauna, _______ the extensive biodiversity that characterizes mid- and low-latitude terrestrial biomes.

The correct answer here is "lack" because it's a plural verb which goes along with the plural subject "subartic regions".

Let's try another one from Xello:

• In efforts to address the lack of housing availability in major U.S. cities, public policy experts cite the need to balance the often-lengthy regulatory approval process for building new housing with the urgent demand for it. While regulation is necessary to ensure safe construction, many policy commentators agree that as long as approving building plans _______ input from multiple community organizations, government agencies, and various regulatory commissions, cities will fail to meet the need for reasonably price housing.

Requires is correct here because approval is singular.