7. Standard English Conventions II: Form & Sense

Form, Structure & Sense questions test grammar: making verbs and pronouns fit, keeping tenses consistent, and placing modifiers logically.

• Subject-verb agreement. The verb matches the real subject, even when words come between them: 'The collection of rare coins is valuable' (subject = collection, not coins).
• Neither/nor (and either/or). The verb agrees with the nearer subject: 'Neither the coach nor the players were ready.'
• Verb tense. Keep events in a logical order. Use the past perfect ('had spread') for an action completed before another past action: 'By the time help arrived, the fire had already spread.'
• Pronoun agreement. A pronoun matches its noun in number. A company or team is singular: 'The company said it would expand,' not 'they.'
• Modifiers. An opening descriptive phrase must attach to the right noun: 'Walking to school, Jamal noticed the leaves' — Jamal is doing the walking, not the leaves.

⚠️ Common mistake: matching the verb to the closest noun instead of the true subject. Mentally cross out the phrase between subject and verb.

💡 Tip: for a dangling modifier, ask 'who or what is doing this action?' — that noun must come right after the comma.