Agreement and parallel structure
Now that you know how to identify subjects, you can apply that skill to questions involving subject-verb agreement, noun-pronoun agreement, verb tense agreement, and parallel structure.
Identifying the subject of a sentence is the first step in understanding a sentence’s structure because it is essential for answering test questions about subject-verb agreement and noun-pronoun agreement. Similarly, verb tense questions ask whether actions are depicted in the correct tense and whether they are organized chronologically.
Subject-verb agreement
In other words, if the sentence contains a singular subject, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.
On the test, the subject of a sentence may be separated from the verb by prepositional phrases. Since a prepositional phrase is a preposition followed by a noun, test writers can confuse students by writing questions in which the noun that is the subject of the sentence and the noun in the prepositional phrase do not agree in number. If a test-taker is not reading carefully, he or she may match the verb with the noun in the prepositional phrase instead of with the noun that is the subject.
Steps for checking subject-verb agreement
- Cross out the introductory clause.
- Cross out prepositional phrases and nonessential clauses.
- Find the subject in the main clause.
- Match it with the verb in the main clause.
Practice question
As a camp counselor, Jeremy, whose campers are all ten-year-old boys, _____ a talent for managing chaotic situations.
a. have discovered
b. having discovered
c. has discovered
d. are discovering
e. were discovering
Correct answer:
The correct answer is c. has discovered.
c. has discovered is correct because Jeremy…has discovered is the main clause of the sentence.
a. have discovered is incorrect because have is plural, whereas Jeremy is singular.
b. having discovered is incorrect because it creates a subordinate phrase rather than serving as the sentence’s main verb.
d. are discovering is incorrect because are is plural, whereas Jeremy is singular.
e. were discovering is incorrect because were is plural, whereas Jeremy is singular.
There are a number of sentence structures that present you with two subjects:
- Either…or
- Neither…nor
- Not only…but also
When this happens, the verb must agree in number with the noun that is closest to the verb in the sentence. The noun that is farther away is grammatically irrelevant.
Notice how this rule works in the following sentences:
Either the Robinsons or Mr. Boniface runs the church bake sale, so I can give you both of their numbers.
The relevant noun, “Mr. Boniface,” is closest to the verb, and it agrees with “runs.”
Neither Tamir nor the Thompson twins know where the hockey sticks are.
Here, “twins” is closest to “know,” which matches it in number.
Not only the spaghetti but also the rolls were knocked to the floor by Bowzer, Marc’s St. Bernard puppy.
Again, the verb is closest to “the rolls,” so “the rolls were” is correct.
A compound subject (two nouns joined by and) usually takes a plural verb. There are two exceptions: when the two nouns name a single thing (Macaroni and cheese is on the menu) and when each or every comes before them (Every student and teacher has a locker).
Both the cookies and the coffee were greatly appreciated by the tired firefighters.
An indefinite pronoun that ends in -one, -thing, or -body (everyone, nothing, somebody) is singular and takes a singular verb. Each, either, and neither are also singular, even when followed by a plural phrase: Each of the players has a locker.
Everyone on the bus hopes that the traffic jam eases soon.
Everything is ready for the meeting.
Nobody was hurt in the accident.
Practice question
Either Melody’s chocolate-marshmallow brownies or that slice of honey cake _____ an entire battalion of ants.
a. has attracted
b. have attracted
c. was attracted
d. were attracted
e. have been attracting
Correct answer:
The correct answer is a. has attracted.
a. has attracted is correct because the nearer of the two subjects is slice (that slice of honey cake), which is singular.
b. have attracted is incorrect because have is plural.
c. was attracted is incorrect because it changes the meaning and says that the cake was attracted to the ants.
d. were attracted is incorrect because were is plural and does not agree with slice.
e. have been attracting is incorrect because have is plural and does not agree with slice.
Noun-pronoun agreement
Pronouns must agree in number with the nouns to which they refer. Those nouns are called antecedents or referents.
Current style guides, including The Chicago Manual of Style (18th ed.), APA, and MLA, accept singular their for a single person of unknown gender (Everyone brought their own lunch). ETS has published no guidance on it, so on the test treat the singular choice as the safer answer. When one choice pairs a clearly singular antecedent such as each student or everyone with their, and another choice uses a matching singular pronoun or makes the noun plural (All the students … their), take that choice: standardized tests are written so that no answer depends on a contested usage.
Answer choices for noun-pronoun questions often include contractions such as it’s (it is) and they’re (they are). Don’t confuse them with the possessive pronouns its and their.
Personal possessive pronouns (its, their, his, hers, ours, yours, whose) never take an apostrophe; if you see it’s, they’re, or who’s, it’s a contraction. Indefinite pronouns such as one, someone, and everybody do form possessives with an apostrophe: one’s, someone’s, everybody’s.
A pronoun agrees with its antecedent, and the antecedent is not always the noun closest to the pronoun. In The box of old letters has lost its lid, its refers to box, not letters. Only when two antecedents are joined by or or nor does the nearer one decide, as it does for verbs: Neither the coach nor the players remembered their jackets.
Noun-pronoun agreement also covers two related issues:
- Pronoun person shift: don’t switch between pronoun persons mid-sentence: If one studies, one will pass (not If one studies, you will pass).
- Vague pronoun reference: a pronoun needs one clear antecedent: When Ana met Rosa, Rosa was nervous is clearer than When Ana met Rosa, she was nervous, where she could refer to either woman.
Practice question
All of the students in Ms. Henderson’s class want to go to Six Flags for _____ class trip.
a. their
b. his
c. her
d. they’re
e. its
Correct answer:
The correct answer is a. their.
a. their is correct because all refers to the students, so it is plural. (Words like all, some, and most take their number from the noun after of.)
b. his is incorrect because there is no singular masculine antecedent.
c. her is incorrect because there is no singular feminine antecedent.
d. they’re is incorrect because it is a contraction of they are, not a possessive pronoun.
e. its is incorrect because class is not the antecedent. In Ms. Henderson’s class is a modifying phrase. The antecedent is all, which is plural.
Noun-noun agreement
When a plural subject is said to be, or to become, something, the noun that names the role is plural too. A singular noun there suggests that the whole group is one person or thing.
INCORRECT: The students wanted to become a teacher.
CORRECT: The students wanted to become teachers.
A singular subject keeps a singular noun: Maya wanted to become a teacher.
Verb tense agreement
The tense of a verb tells us when the action takes place: in the past, the present, or the future.
Verb tense questions are frequently also subject-verb agreement questions because verbs must agree with their subjects in number and with the other verbs and context clues in the sentence.
Maria opened the door and sees a package.
Correct: Maria opened the door and saw a package.
A tense shift is correct only when the time frame actually changes: She lived in Ohio but now lives in Texas.
Practice question
Dogs, those beloved companions, _____ a separate species from wolves, their genetic ancestors, between 27,000 and 40,000 years ago.
a. becoming
b. became
c. have become
d. become
e. were becoming
Correct answer:
The correct answer is b. became.
b. became is correct because it is simple past tense and correctly describes an event that took place in the past.
a. becoming is incorrect because participles cannot function as the main verb of the sentence.
c. have become is incorrect because the present perfect cannot be used with a specific past time such as years ago.
d. become is incorrect because it is present tense.
e. were becoming is incorrect because the past progressive describes an action in progress at some past moment, while the sentence reports a completed change, so the simple past became fits.
Parallel structure
It also balances sentences and helps readers follow along.
Parallel structure is especially important for lists: every item in the list must be grammatically identical to every other item.
Example:
When Timothy finally appeared, his parents marveled at his clean hands, freshly scrubbed face, and combed hair.
Here, we have a list of three adjective + noun phrases. The sentence is correct because the phrases in the list are grammatically identical.
Parallel structure can also occur among verb phrases.
Example:
Timothy cleaned his hands, washed his face, and combed his hair.
Notice that all three actions—cleaned, washed, and combed—are in the simple past tense.
Practice question
To get ready for his parents’ first visit to his new apartment, Zack scrubbed the bathroom, _____ the kitchen, and washed six loads of dirty clothes.
a. was scouring
b. had scoured
c. did scour
d. scoured
e. had been scouring
Correct answer:
The correct answer is d. scoured.
d. scoured is correct because it provides parallel structure with scrubbed and washed.
a. was scouring is incorrect because it is past progressive rather than simple past.
b. had scoured is incorrect because it is past perfect tense.
c. did scour is incorrect because it does not match the form of the other verbs.
e. had been scouring is incorrect because it is past perfect progressive tense and does not match the other verbs.
Parallel structure also applies to correlative conjunction pairs like either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, and both/and. Whatever comes after each half of the pair must match grammatically.
Example:
Correct: She is not only smart but also kind.
Incorrect: She is not only smart but also a kind person.The corrected version places an adjective (smart, kind) after each half of the pair, instead of pairing an adjective with a noun phrase (a kind person).