Question type
Subject-verb agreement on the SAT
The verb agrees with its grammatical subject, not with the noun nearest to it. In "the consistent sequence of those shells across widely separated outcrops ___", the subject is sequence, so the verb is singular: allows. Cross out phrases starting with of, across, with or which to find the subject.
The choices are singular and plural forms of one verb, sometimes in different tenses. You have to find the subject the verb belongs to.
College Board's question bank has 71 of these, more than any other conventions type; a quarter are rated Hard, where words separate the subject from the verb.
- 71 in College Board's question bank, 25% rated Hard
- 44 practice questions of this type
- Reading it aloud misleads
Why students miss it
The nearest noun. "The lattice of the fragments ___": fragments is plural, lattice is the subject, so the verb is preserves.
Collective nouns that sound plural, and subjects that come after the verb.
A choice in the right number but the wrong form, such as a participle where the sentence needs a main verb.
How to spot it
- Choices like display / displays / is displaying / has displayed.
- A long phrase between the subject and the blank.
The method
Find the real subject
Cross out the phrases between the subject and the verb.
- "of ...", "across ...", "which ..." phrases
- never contain the subject.
- Singular subject
- singular verb: allows, preserves.
- Plural subject
- plural verb: allow, display.
Does reading it aloud help?
Read aloud, the verb sounds right when it agrees with the nearest noun, which is the trap.
- Read only the subject and the verb together: "the sequence allows", "the panels display".
Two real questions
From the 1500prep bank, the way the app shows them. Answer first, then open the explanation.
Because moa vanished from New Zealand roughly six centuries ago, researchers once assumed that little genetic material from these flightless birds could survive in the island's humid, acidic soils. Recent analyses of fossilized eggshell, however, show that the mineral lattice of the fragments ancient DNA.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Show the answer and explanationThe answer: preserves
Mapping chalk formations in southern England during the 1830s, early geologists observed that particular fossil shells recurred in an invariable order wherever the rock lay exposed. The consistent sequence of those shells across widely separated outcrops distant strata to be correlated by fossil content alone.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Show the answer and explanationThe answer: allows
Questions students ask
How do you find the subject of a sentence on the SAT?
Cross out prepositional phrases and clauses between the noun and the verb. The noun left before the verb is the subject.
Does the verb agree with the closest noun?
No. It agrees with its subject, which is often further away. The closest noun is the most common trap.
Practise this type until it is automatic
Five more subject-verb agreement questions, checked instantly, with every wrong choice explained. Free, no card.