2. Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement requires that a singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb. This sounds simple, but the SAT® deliberately places distractors between the subject and the verb to obscure the relationship.

The core rule:

• Singular: "The dog runs in the yard."
• Plural: "The dogs run in the yard."

Tricky case 1 -- Prepositional phrases: A prepositional phrase between the subject and verb does not change the subject's number.

• Incorrect: "The box of apples are on the counter."
• Correct: "The box of apples is on the counter." (Subject = box, singular)

Tricky case 2 -- Collective nouns: Words like team, committee, class, family, and government are usually treated as singular in American English.

• "The committee has reached its decision."

Tricky case 3 -- Indefinite pronouns: The pronouns each, every, either, neither, one, everyone, everybody, someone, and anyone are always singular.

• "Each of the students is responsible for their own work."

Tricky case 4 -- Compound subjects with or/nor: The verb agrees with the subject closest to it.

• "Neither the manager nor the employees were informed."
• "Neither the employees nor the manager was informed."

Before/After examples:

• Incorrect: "The impact of the new policies are still being studied."
• Correct: "The impact of the new policies is still being studied."

⚠️ Common mistake: agreeing the verb with a noun in a prepositional phrase rather than with the true subject.

💡 Tip: cross out any prepositional phrases between the subject and verb before checking agreement. This instantly reveals the true subject.