Subject-verb agreement on the ACT

A verb has to match its subject in number, and the ACT hides that match by stuffing extra words between the two, so your job is to find the real subject, ignore everything in between, and check whether the verb fits. That sounds almost too simple, and honestly, it mostly is. The rule itself is something you already know from speaking. What makes these questions tricky is the distance the test puts between the subject and the verb.

The rule, stated plainly

Singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs. The student writes. The students write. You would never get that wrong out loud. But watch what happens when the ACT adds a few words:

• Incorrect: The student who won three regional writing prizes write for the school paper.
• Correct: The student who won three regional writing prizes writes for the school paper.

The subject is still student, singular. The clause about the prizes is just scenery. Subject-verb agreement questions live inside Conventions of Standard English, which makes up roughly 38 to 43% of the English section, so this is worth real practice time.

Cross out the interrupter

Here is the single most useful habit you can build: when a verb is underlined, mentally cross out any prepositional phrase or non-essential clause sitting between the subject and that verb. Prepositional phrases start with words like of, in, with, between, and along with. The noun inside one of those phrases can never be the subject.

• Incorrect: A box of old photographs and letters were sitting in the attic.
• Correct: A box of old photographs and letters was sitting in the attic.

Cross out of old photographs and letters and you are left with a box was sitting. The plural nouns right before the verb are bait. The same trick works for clauses set off by commas, which is why it pays to be comfortable with how the ACT uses commas to fence off extra information.

Compound subjects: and versus or

Two subjects joined by and are plural. Two subjects joined by or or nor take a verb that agrees with whichever subject is closer to the verb.

• Correct: The coach and the trainer disagree about the schedule.
• Correct: Neither the players nor the coach wants a longer season.
• Correct: Neither the coach nor the players want a longer season.

Those last two sentences are both right, which surprises people. With or and nor, the nearest subject wins.

Collective nouns and indefinite pronouns

Collective nouns such as team, committee, audience, and family name a group but are treated as singular on the ACT, because the group acts as one unit. The committee meets on Thursdays.

Indefinite pronouns follow their own small set of habits. Each, every, either, neither, anyone, everybody, and nobody are singular, no matter how plural they feel.

• Incorrect: Each of the finalists have a different reason for competing.
• Correct: Each of the finalists has a different reason for competing.

Inverted sentences

Sometimes the subject shows up after the verb, and your ear stops helping. This happens most often with there is and there are. The word there is never the subject, so look past the verb to find what the sentence is actually about.

• Incorrect: There is several reasons the migration route shifted.
• Correct: There are several reasons the migration route shifted.

Questions beginning with Where is or Here comes work the same way.

Common traps to expect

• A long prepositional phrase between subject and verb, with a plural noun parked right before the underlined verb.
• A non-essential clause in commas doing the same job of distraction.
• Each or neither followed by of the plus a plural noun.
• Sentences that open with there, where the subject arrives late.
• Answer choices that change the verb tense at the same time, so you have to check agreement and tense consistency together.

A quick self-check drill

Grab any English passage you have already worked through and find every underlined verb. For each one, do three things in order: point to the subject, cross out everything between the subject and the verb, and then say the stripped-down sentence out loud. If the short version sounds right, the full version is right. This takes maybe five minutes per passage and it builds the reflex fast.

When you want repetition on the pattern rather than whole passages, thirty-six has concept quizzes that let you drill agreement questions back to back until the crossing-out move becomes automatic. From there, the rest of the grammar rules ACT English tests will start to feel like the same kind of puzzle. And remember that nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so even on a verb you cannot untangle, make your best guess and move on.

This article offers general ACT prep guidance. The ACT can change from year to year, including its format, scoring, policies, test dates, and fees, so always confirm the latest details on the official ACT website at act.org before you make decisions. ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc. thirty-six is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ACT.