Nouns and gerunds
What the test asks about nouns
The test never asks you to pick out the nouns in a sentence. Nouns matter in two of the errors it does test: capitalization, which depends on whether a noun names one specific person, place, or thing, and noun-noun agreement, where two nouns that refer to the same people or things must match in number.
Noun-noun agreement
When one noun renames or describes another, the two must agree in number. Two people can’t share one singular role unless they really do share it.
INCORRECT: Maya and Theo both want to become a pilot.
CORRECT: Maya and Theo both want to become pilots.INCORRECT: The two finalists were both a senior at Lincoln High.
CORRECT: The two finalists were both seniors at Lincoln High.
To check, find the noun the other one describes and compare the numbers: two people, two pilots.
Practice question
Many of the volunteers who staff the food bank on weekends are also a teacher during the week.
Which underlined part contains the error?
a. volunteers
b. staff
c. are
d. a teacher
e. No error
Correct answer:
The correct answer is d.
d. is correct. A teacher describes many of the volunteers, which is plural, so it must be plural too: are also teachers.
a. is incorrect because volunteers is the plural noun the rest of the sentence should match.
b. is incorrect because staff agrees with who, which stands for the plural volunteers.
c. is incorrect because are agrees with the plural subject many.
e. is incorrect because a teacher doesn’t match the plural noun it describes.
Capitalization: proper nouns
Common categories of proper nouns include:
- Individual people
- Titles used directly before a person’s name (Dr. Patel, Senator Warren), but not titles used on their own (the senator, our principal)
- Specific holidays
- Brand names
- Specific streets, towns, cities, parks, states, countries, continents, and bodies of water
- Months of the year
- Days of the week
- Religions and the people who practice them
- Languages and nationalities
- Specific political parties
Sentence to check
Gwen was Welsh and a citizen of the United kingdom, but she was raised in Towson, Maryland, where her parents taught physics and French at Towson University.
Practice question
Select the correct version of the sentence:
a. NO CHANGE
b. Gwen was Welsh and a citizen of the United Kingdom, but she was raised in Towson, Maryland, where her parents taught Physics and French at Towson University.
c. Gwen was welsh and a citizen of the United Kingdom, but she was raised in Towson, Maryland, where her parents taught physics and French at Towson University.
d. Gwen was Welsh and a citizen of the United Kingdom, but she was raised in Towson, Maryland, where her parents taught physics and French at Towson university.
e. Gwen was Welsh and a citizen of the United Kingdom, but she was raised in Towson, Maryland, where her parents taught physics and French at Towson University.
Correct answer:
The correct answer is e.
e. is correct: Welsh, United Kingdom, Towson, Maryland, French, and Towson University are all proper nouns and are capitalized correctly, while physics (a school subject) is a common noun and stays lowercase.
a. NO CHANGE is incorrect because “United kingdom” is a proper noun, so both words should be capitalized: United Kingdom.
b. is incorrect because physics is not a proper noun and should not be capitalized.
c. is incorrect because Welsh is a nationality and should be capitalized.
d. is incorrect because University is part of the university’s name and should be capitalized.
Other capitalization rules
Proper nouns are not the only words that take a capital letter. These are the other rules that sentence-correction items rely on:
- The first word of a sentence, and of a quotation that is a full sentence: The bell rang. Then the coach shouted, “Line up by the door.”
- The major words in the title of a work (a book, film, song, or article): capitalize the first and last words and every noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and pronoun between them. Lowercase the articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions in the middle: The Old Man and the Sea.
- A title directly before a name, but not a title used on its own: President Lincoln, but the president.
- A family word used as a name, but not after a possessive: I asked Mom for a ride, but I asked my mom for a ride.
- A region, but not a direction: She grew up in the South, but Drive north on Elm Street.
- Languages and specific course titles, but not seasons or school subjects: Spanish and Biology 101, but spring, history, and algebra.
Gerunds
A gerund names an activity: Swimming is good exercise. You won’t be asked to label one, but gerunds cause two errors the test does ask about.
A gerund subject takes a singular verb, even when a plural noun follows it. The subject is the activity, not the things it involves.
INCORRECT: Collecting old maps are Ana’s favorite hobby.
CORRECT: Collecting old maps is Ana’s favorite hobby.
The noun closest to the verb is maps, but the subject is collecting, one activity, so the verb is is.
Activities in a series stay in the same form. If a list starts with -ing words, the rest of the list takes -ing too.
INCORRECT: Jorge likes hiking, swimming, and to ride his bike.
CORRECT: Jorge likes hiking, swimming, and riding his bike.
Agreement and parallel structure covers both rules in full.
An -ing word is not always a gerund. In Pauline is studying, studying is part of the verb, and in the rising sun, rising describes a noun. The agreement rule applies when the -ing word is the subject.
Practice question
Taking practice tests under timed conditions help students learn to pace themselves on test day.
Which underlined part contains the error?
a. Taking
b. help
c. to pace
d. on
e. No error
Correct answer:
The correct answer is b.
b. is correct. The subject is the gerund phrase taking practice tests under timed conditions, one activity, so the verb must be singular: helps. Tests and conditions are plural, but neither is the subject.
a. is incorrect because taking correctly begins the phrase that serves as the subject.
c. is incorrect because learn to pace is the standard form.
d. is incorrect because on test day is idiomatic.
e. is incorrect because help doesn’t agree with its singular subject.