Verbs and Subject-Verb Agreement

A long sentence can contain several verb-shaped words but still lack the verb its main clause needs. First find the subject and ask what the sentence actually says that subject does or is. A finite verb phrase can serve as the predicate of a complete declarative clause: the artist sketches, the artist is sketching, the artist has sketched, or the artist may sketch. The whole phrase counts, including its auxiliaries.

An infinitive, such as to sketch, or an unaided participle, such as sketching, cannot ordinarily do that job alone. In The artist sketching the bridge, the phrase sketching the bridge describes the artist; the main clause still needs a finite verb. But The artist is sketching the bridge is complete. Never eliminate every answer containing an -ing word. An -ing form can also head a subject, traditionally called a gerund use: in Sketching bridges requires patience, Sketching bridges acts as the subject, while requires supplies the finite main verb.

Check which clause owns each finite verb. In The artist who sketches bridges lives nearby, sketches belongs to the relative clause beginning with who; lives is the main verb. A verb buried inside a description cannot also finish the surrounding clause. Conversely, when a finite main verb is already present, a descriptive participle may be exactly what a blank needs.

A modal such as can, may, must, or would takes a plain-form verb: can sing, not can sings, can sang, or can singing. The plain form is also called the base form. The modal can govern several coordinated verbs: The new schedule would shorten meetings and leave more time for preparation.

Temporarily set aside intervening modifiers and repeat the modal in your mind: would shorten ... and [would] leave. Distance from the modal does not make leave a separate present-tense verb. A singular subject does not require an -s on a verb governed by a modal.

Compare a genuinely separate clause: The new schedule would shorten meetings, and the director supports it. The new subject the director owns the finite verb supports. Do not force a shared modal across a clause boundary. Nor does every verb-shaped word after a modal have to be plain: may have written has plain have directly governed by may, then participial written governed by have. Identify the chain and the level joined by and.

The subject is often an entire noun phrase, but one noun or pronoun controls its number. In The arrangement of the panels allows more light inside, the subject head is singular arrangement. The nearby plural noun panels belongs to an of phrase. Temporarily bracket intervening descriptions, then read the subject head with its verb: arrangement allows.

Do not mechanically choose the nearest noun. A subject can be separated from its verb by prepositional phrases, appositives, participial phrases, and relative clauses. Each embedded clause has its own agreement: The arrangement of panels that reflect light allows.... Plural panels controls reflect; singular arrangement controls allows. Removing the description for analysis does not mean it is unimportant to the meaning.

In the simple present, most third-person singular subjects take the verb with -s: a design works; plural subjects take the base form: designs work. With auxiliaries, check the first finite element: the design has worked, the designs have worked. Most simple-past verbs do not change for number, though was/were does. Therefore, diagnose agreement from the actual choices instead of treating every verb question as an agreement question.

English often puts the subject before the verb, but descriptive openings can reverse that order: Beyond the gate stand two statues. The subject is two statues, even though it follows stand. Mentally restore ordinary order: Two statues stand beyond the gate. Choose agreement only after this rearrangement.

Existential there introduces something's presence: There are two entrances; There is one entrance. In these formal written constructions, use the number of the noun phrase after the verb rather than treating there as a singular noun. Here can also introduce inverted order: Here are the revised plans. A location phrase before the verb is not automatically the subject.

Read the entire noun phrase after the blank. Near the door sits a box of samples has singular box; Near the door sit samples from a box has plural samples. A plural noun inside a location phrase can be another distraction. This procedure is an analysis tool, not an instruction to rewrite the passage on the test. The original inverted sentence can be entirely grammatical.

Two distinct subjects joined by and normally take a plural verb: A map and a compass are provided. Count the subjects before checking the verb. Do not let a singular noun inside a later description hide the compound subject. There are special constructions that name one person or one unified item, so understand what the phrase refers to rather than applying a word-count rule blindly.

Phrases introduced by along with, together with, as well as, and in addition to do not ordinarily create a compound subject. Compare The curator and the assistants are attending with The curator, together with the assistants, is attending. In the second sentence, the subject head remains singular curator. The commas mark the addition; the phrase's grammatical role determines the agreement.

With two singular alternatives joined by or or nor, use a singular verb: Neither the map nor the diagram shows the entrance. With two plural alternatives, use a plural verb. In standard edited constructions with mixed numbers, the nearer alternative generally governs agreement. Such sentences can sound strained; when freely editing, recasting them often improves clarity. On the SAT, examine the exact construction and avoid mistaking an additive phrase for an and subject.

Some subjects name individuals indirectly. Each, either, neither, everyone, everybody, and everything take singular agreement in their ordinary uses as subjects: Each of the panels is numbered. The plural noun after of does not change each. Likewise, every panel is numbered. But in The panels each have a number, the subject is plural panels; the later word each does not make it singular.

Pay attention to the difference between a number of and the number of. A number of visitors have arrived means several visitors; plural agreement follows. The number of visitors has increased refers to one count; singular agreement follows. Replacing the article changes the grammatical structure and meaning.

With fractions, percentages, and words such as some, the noun being quantified matters: Half of the pages are missing, but half of the paper is missing. Do not apply the ordinary head-noun shortcut without checking this quantity construction. A measured amount treated as one total can also be singular: Ten minutes is enough. Avoid guessing from the visible numeral alone; determine whether the sentence refers to plural items or one amount.

Verb tense locates an event relative to a time frame. Look for explicit anchors such as in 1998, today, next year, and since 2017, then ask which event each anchor modifies. A passage can move from a finished historical event to a present condition: The museum opened in 1982 and now houses a photography collection. That shift is necessary, not an error.

For a finished event located at a specific past time, the simple past is often appropriate: In 1982, the museum opened. The present perfect normally does not combine with a time expression locating that event wholly within a finished past period: has opened in 1982 does not work in that sentence. The present perfect instead connects a past situation to the present, as in The museum has expanded since 1982.

Do not force every verb into the tense of its nearest neighbor. Identify the time of the blank's clause. Also distinguish tense from agreement and completeness: the museum have opened fails agreement, and the museum opening lacks a finite predicate. Eliminate those failures first when useful, but explain the decisive rule accurately. Present-tense narration can be legitimate; a test item must provide enough context to establish the intended time frame.

Aspect shows how an event relates to a reference time or whether it is viewed as ongoing. The perfect uses a form of have plus a past participle: has written, had written, will have written. Present perfect connects a past event or interval to the present. Past perfect places an event before a past reference point. Future perfect places completion before a future reference point.

The progressive uses a form of be plus an -ing participle: is writing, was writing. The two aspects can combine: has been writing. Read the entire chain; been follows have, and the progressive main verb takes -ing. An auxiliary is not optional merely because the sentence already contains a different verb elsewhere.

Use these meanings without inventing rigid rules. After the courier arrived, the curator opened the crate and After the courier had arrived, the curator opened the crate can both be grammatical. The word after already supplies the order; the past perfect emphasizes the earlier event. Likewise, simple and progressive forms can sometimes describe the same situation from different viewpoints. On a multiple-choice question, inspect the actual alternatives, their formation, and the explicit reference times; do not eliminate a valid form solely because another sounds more precise.

In the active version of an action, the subject is the actor: The illustrator drew the map. In a passive clause, the subject receives the action: The map was drawn by the illustrator. Passive voice is fully grammatical and often useful when the recipient matters most. The ordinary passive pattern uses a form of be plus a past participle. A by phrase may name the actor, but it is not required.

Do not confuse the simple past with the past participle. Regular verbs often use the same form for both, but irregular verbs can differ: wrote/written, drew/drawn, chose/chosen, and took/taken. Perfect have and passive be select participles: has written, was written. Neither has wrote nor was wrote works.

On a difficult item, check several constraints in order: Does the clause have a finite verb? Does its first auxiliary agree with the subject? Does the chain contain the forms its auxiliaries require? Does the subject perform or receive the stated action? Finally, verify the timeline. A passive perfect phrase such as has been written can satisfy all five checks. Never remove an auxiliary or reject passive voice merely to make an answer shorter.

Keep these checks in mind

• Assign every finite verb to its own clause. A relative-clause verb cannot finish the surrounding main clause.

• Find the subject head before choosing agreement; if the subject follows the verb, mentally restore ordinary order.

• Check the exact construction: distinct subjects joined by and, an additive phrase, alternatives with or/nor, or a quantity expression.

• Use the blank's time frame. Past and present can coexist when the passage changes time, and an earlier past event does not automatically require past perfect.

• Read the full auxiliary chain. Perfect have selects a past participle; progressive be selects an -ing participle; passive be selects a past participle.

Begin with four short reasoning drills, then complete sixteen multiple-choice questions. For each answer, identify the decisive rule and the flaw in the nearest competitor. Some drills admit more than one valid repair; explain why your revision works.