Verb/Pronoun agreement

Writing 1

​Subject-Verb agreement

​Subject-Verb agreement is a convention of English that dictates how a Verb and Subject agrees on numbers.

​For Example,

​In 1637, the price of tulips skyrocketed in Amsterdam, with single bulbs of rare varieties selling for up to the equivalent of $200,000 in today’s US dollars. Some historians _______ that this “tulip mania” was the first historical instance of an asset bubble, which occurs when investors drive prices to highs not supported by actual demand.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. claims

2. claim

3. having claimed

4. to claim

​Notable exceptions

​Words in between - find the subject and elimate the rest

​The classic children’s board game Chutes and Ladders is a version of an ancient Nepalese game, Paramapada Sopanapata. In both games, players encounter “good” or “bad” spaces while traveling along a path; landing on one of the good spaces _______ a player to skip ahead and arrive closer to the end goal.

1. allows

2. are allowing

3. have allowed

4. allow

​Istanbul, the most populous of all European cities, was founded in the first millennium BCE.

​Subject after verb

​Beyond the milky way lies the Andromeda galaxy.

Beyond the milky way lie countless galaxies.

​Separating the roads _____ a concrete median.

1. was

2. were

3. has been

4. are

Multiple Choice

The sum of money one donates to registered nonprofit organizations ______ a deduction that can be made from one's taxable income.

• represent

• represents

• are representing

• have represented

Multiple Choice

While many spiders use webs to catch their food, others capture prey using hunting or burrowing techniques. Spiders from the family Ctenizidae, often called trapdoor spiders, ______ their burrows with doors, using their silk for hinges.

• cover

• are covering

• will have covered

• had covered

Multiple Choice

Botanists recognize over fifty different species of sunflower, and variance exists even in those species. One species, the silverleaf sunflower, ______ both an early-flowering ecotype that tends to grow in coastal areas and a late-flowering ecotype that grows inland.

• encompassing

• to encompass

• encompasses

• having encompessed

Multiple Choice

Called embouchure, the shape of a skilled trumpet player's lips ______ for playing a wide range of notes with clear tone and without muscle strain.

• allows

• are allowing

• allow

• have allowed

Multiple Choice

Because a cycle of lunar phases _____ 29.5 days to complete, it's possible to observe 2 full moons in a single month, one at the beginning and one at the end.

• have taken

• take

• takes

• are taking

Pronoun-antecedent agreement

Public-awareness campaigns about the need to reduce single-use plastics can be successful, says researcher Kim Borg of Monash University in Australia, when these campaigns give consumers a choice: for example, Japan achieved a 40 percent reduction in plastic-bag use after cashiers were instructed to ask customers whether _______ wanted a bag.

​Example:

​Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• they

• one

• you

• it

​Note

​Distance

​Scientists believe that, unlike most other species of barnacle, turtle barnacles (Chelonibia testudinari) can dissolve the cement-like secretions they use to attach _______ to a sea turtle shell, enabling the barnacles to move short distances across the shell’s surface.

​Before the subject

​While _____ may not be widely associated with long life, ocean clams have been known to live for over 500 years.

​Special circumstance

Multiple Choice

Before a jury trial begins, lawyers for each side interview potential jurors closely, ______ questions intended to reveal any biases. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• asking him or her

• asking them

• asking it

• to ask him or her

Multiple Choice

Thanks to ______ long legs, giraffes are very fast, running as quickly as 35 miles per hour in short bursts.

• its

• one's

• their

• his or her

Multiple Choice

It is hard to live in Antarctica. The cold, dry environment provides the continent's soil-dwelling microbes few nutrients, little water, and almost no sunlight. In a 2017 study of these organisms, microbiologist Belinda Ferrari reported that ______ able to survive on a diet of atmospheric gases found in the soil

• it is

• this is

• either is

• they are

Multiple Choice

A Neapolitan pizza made with San Marzano tomatoes ______ considered more traditional than one made with any other type of tomatoes.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• are

• have been

• is

• were

Multiple Choice

Each of the employees works in _____ job

• his or her

• their

• themselves

bye