Mastering SAT and ACT Subject-Verb Agreement Questions
This is another question type on which test-takers lose points due to faulty tactics. Read this article and never miss an SVA Question again!
Note: To understand this article, you must first be familiar with the tactics for Verb Tense Questions. If you haven't studied those yet, please read that article before proceeding.
On both the ACT English and SAT Reading & Writing sections, Subject-Verb Agreement Questions look very similar to Verb Tense Questions. Many students make the mistake of handling them in the same way, leading to lost points. These are distinct question types and require different tactics.
Identifying Subject-Verb Agreement Questions
At first glance, they look like Verb Tense Questions. However, Subject-Verb Agreement Questions have two answer choices that, although the same verb, are in the SAME tense. (Remember, in Verb Tense Questions, the verb tenses are different in ALL of the answer choices.)
For example, imagine you come across a question with the following answer choices:
A. lock
B. is locking
C. has locked
D. locks
This may seem like a Verb Tense Question, but notice that two answer choices are actually in the same tense. Answer Choices A and D are both in present tense.
Yes, there is something different about Answer Choice A and Answer Choice D, but it isn't the tense. They have different "numbers" (i.e., one is singular and the other is plural).
This will always be the case on Subject-Verb Agreement Questions - the two answers in the same tense will have different "numbers", meaning one will be plural and the other singular.
Now, let’s move on to exploring some tactics for SVA Questions that will enable you to solve them quickly and accurately:
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