9.2 Subject-Verb Agreement and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

OpenExamPrep provides this instructional review of grammatical concord to prepare students for the editing and revision questions on the Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0 (TSIA2) English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) section. In English syntax, agreement (or concord) is the grammatical requirement that related words share corresponding grammatical features—specifically number (singular vs. plural) and person (first, second, or third). On the TSIA2, agreement errors rarely appear in simple three-word sentences; instead, test authors craft complex sentences with intervening modifiers, inverted syntax, compound structures, and indefinite pronouns designed to distract examinees from the true grammatical subject or antecedent.

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1. Fundamentals of Subject-Verb Concord

The fundamental rule of subject-verb concord is straightforward: a singular subject requires a singular verb, and a plural subject requires a plural verb.

Singular: The seismologist analyzes the tectonic data.    [Subject: -s absent; Verb: -s present]
Plural:   The seismologists analyze the tectonic data.    [Subject: -s present; Verb: -s absent]

Unlike nouns, which typically add an -s or -es to indicate plural number (sensor -> sensors), standard third-person present-tense English verbs add an -s to signify singular number (reads, examines, demonstrates). In contrast, plural present-tense verbs carry no -s suffix (read, examine, demonstrate).

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2. Intervening Phrases and the Prepositional Distractor Trap

The single most frequent agreement trap on the TSIA2 involves inserting extensive modifying phrases between the simple subject and the finite verb. Examinees frequently commit proximity errors, mistakenly matching the verb to the nearest noun rather than the true subject.

The Prepositional Trap

Prepositional phrases begin with prepositions such as of, in, to, for, with, on, at, from, by, between, through, across. A noun located inside a prepositional phrase is the object of the preposition and can never serve as the grammatical subject of the sentence.

• Incorrect: The comprehensive analysis of groundwater samples collected across thirty municipal wells indicate significant arsenic contamination.
• Analysis: The noun immediately preceding the verb is wells (plural), but wells is the object of the preposition across. The simple subject is the singular noun analysis.
• Correct: The comprehensive analysis [of groundwater samples] [collected across thirty municipal wells] indicates significant arsenic contamination.

Parenthetical Modifying Phrases

Phrases introduced by expressions like along with, as well as, in addition to, together with, accompanied by, including, and except are parenthetical modifiers. They do not compound the subject; the grammatical number remains determined solely by the initial noun.

• Incorrect: The lead aerospace engineer, along with three avionics technicians, were conducting the pre-launch diagnostic check.
• Correct: The lead aerospace engineer, [along with three avionics technicians], was conducting the pre-launch diagnostic check.

💡 The Cross-Out Strategy

When facing a subject-verb agreement question on the TSIA2, mentally or physically cross out all intervening prepositional phrases, appositives, and relative clauses that separate the subject from the verb. Read the bare subject and verb together to immediately expose discordance.

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3. Inverted Syntax and Expletive Constructions

In standard English declarative sentences, the subject precedes the verb (S-V order). However, certain syntactic patterns invert this relationship, placing the verb before the subject (V-S order).

Expletive Constructions (There is / There are)

In sentences beginning with there or here, the word there is an expletive (a dummy placeholder), not the grammatical subject. The true subject appears after the verb.

• Incorrect: There is several compelling reasons to reconsider the hydroelectric dam expansion.
• Correct: There are several compelling reasons [plural subject] to reconsider the hydroelectric dam expansion.
• Correct: There is a compelling reason [singular subject] to reconsider the hydroelectric dam expansion.

Inverted Prepositional Openers

When a sentence begins with an emphatic prepositional phrase describing location or direction, the subject often follows the verb.

• Incorrect: Along the perimeter of the ancient archaeological sanctuary stands three massive limestone columns.
• Correct: Along the perimeter of the ancient archaeological sanctuary stand three massive limestone columns [plural subject].

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4. Compound Subjects: Coordination vs. Correlative Conjunctions

Compound subjects require careful syntactic analysis depending on the coordinating or correlative conjunction used to join them:

Subjects Joined by And

When two or more distinct subjects are joined by and, they form a compound plural subject and require a plural verb, regardless of whether the individual nouns are singular or plural.

• Example: The copper conduit and the aluminum junction box conduct electrical current efficiently.
• Exception: When two nouns joined by and represent a single conceptual unit or identity, they take a singular verb (Macaroni and cheese is her favorite comfort food; Research and development is the firm's primary expense).

Subjects Joined by Or, Nor, Either...Or, or Neither...Nor

When subjects are connected by alternative or correlative conjunctions, they do not combine into a plural unit. Instead, the verb follows the Rule of Proximity: the verb must agree in person and number with the subject that is physically closest to it.

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5. Indefinite Pronouns and Collective Nouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to nonspecific persons, places, or things. Their grammatical number is a high-frequency testing point on the TSIA2.

A. Strictly Singular Indefinite Pronouns

The following pronouns are grammatically singular under all circumstances and take singular verbs and singular possessive pronouns:

• each, either, neither, one

• -body compounds: anybody, somebody, everybody, nobody

• -one compounds: anyone, someone, everyone, no one

• -thing compounds: anything, something, everything, nothing

• Incorrect: Each of the newly appointed university faculty members have published original research.

• Correct: Each [of the newly appointed university faculty members] has published original research.

B. Strictly Plural Indefinite Pronouns

The following pronouns are always plural and require plural verbs:

• both, few, several, many, others
• Example: Several of the clinical trial participants have reported mild secondary side effects.

C. Variable Indefinite Pronouns: The SANAM Group

Five indefinite pronouns vary in number depending on the noun in the prepositional phrase that follows them. Use the mnemonic SANAM:

• Some, Any, None, All, More / Most

Collective Nouns

In American English conventions tested on the TSIA2, collective nouns (committee, jury, faculty, team, audience, class, government, panel, family) refer to a single unified body and take singular verbs and pronouns.

• Correct: The ethics committee has submitted its annual regulatory report to the board.
• (Only if members act as discordant individuals does a collective noun take plural verbs: The jury were arguing among themselves.)

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6. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement and Reference Clarity

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent (the noun to which it refers) in person, number, and gender.

Singular Pronoun Concord

Because indefinite pronouns like everyone, somebody, and each are singular, pronouns referring back to them must maintain singular concord.

• Traditional Formal Concord: Every researcher must submit his or her documentation before the deadline.

Eliminating Ambiguous or Vague Pronoun References

A pronoun must have a single, indisputable antecedent. If a pronoun could refer to more than one preceding noun, the sentence is syntactically flawed.

• Ambiguous Reference: When the registrar delivered the updated transcript to the student, she noticed an error in the graduation audit. (Does she refer to the registrar or the student?)
• Revision: When the registrar delivered the updated transcript to the student, the student noticed an error in the graduation audit.

Eliminating Unstated or Floating Pronoun References

Never use pronouns such as they, it, or this without an explicit antecedent noun.

• Unstated Reference: In the state agricultural code, they require permits for commercial groundwater extraction. (Who is they? The state code is a document, not people.)
• Revision: The state agricultural code requires permits for commercial groundwater extraction.