Section 2.2: Grammar & Subject-Verb Agreement

Section 2.2: Grammar & Subject-Verb Agreement

In professional policing, the written word is as much of a tool as a physical duty belt. Police reports, arrest warrants, and witness statements are legal documents that are scrutinized in court by magistrates, defense lawyers, and prosecutors. Grammatical errors, particularly those involving subject-verb agreement and pronoun reference, can introduce ambiguity, casting doubt on the accuracy of an officer's observations or rendering a key piece of evidence open to misinterpretation. The Victoria Police Entrance Examination places significant weight on these skills, testing your ability to identify and apply standard grammatical rules under time constraints. This section details the fundamental rules of grammar and subject-verb agreement that you will encounter on the exam.

Core Rule: Matching Singular and Plural

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

In English, singular verbs in the present tense typically end with an "-s" or "-es" (e.g., runs, investigates, writes), whereas plural verbs do not (e.g., run, investigate, write).

• Singular: "The constable (singular subject) patrols (singular verb) the station perimeter."
• Plural: "The constables (plural subject) patrol (plural verb) the station perimeter."

While this seems straightforward, the exam uses specific structures to hide the subject and confuse the reader.

Trap 1: Intervening Phrases

The most common trap on the exam is the intervening phrase. This occurs when a group of words is placed between the subject and the verb. These phrases often start with prepositions or phrases such as along with, as well as, in addition to, together with, or including.

These phrases do not change the number of the subject. To find the correct verb, mentally cross out the intervening phrase and look only at the main subject.

• Incorrect: "The sergeant (singular), along with three junior constables (plural), are conducting the patrol."
• Correct: "The sergeant [along with three junior constables] is conducting the patrol."
• Incorrect: "The evidence (singular) in these locked cabinets were catalogued yesterday."
• Correct: "The evidence [in these locked cabinets] was catalogued yesterday."

Trap 2: Compound Subjects

A compound subject consists of two or more nouns joined by a conjunction. The rules for agreement depend on the conjunction used:

Joined by "And"

When two or more subjects are connected by and, they form a plural subject and require a plural verb.

• Example: "Constable Green and Sergeant Patel are writing reports."

Joined by "Or" or "Nor"

When subjects are connected by or, nor, either... or, or neither... nor, the verb must agree in number with the closest subject to the verb.

• Example 1: "Neither the Sergeant nor the constables (plural) were present at the briefing." (The plural "constables" is closest to the verb, so "were" is used.)
• Example 2: "Neither the constables nor the Sergeant (singular) was present at the briefing." (The singular "Sergeant" is closest to the verb, so "was" is used.)

Trap 3: Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to non-specific people or things. They are a frequent source of errors because some pronouns sound plural but are grammatically singular.

• Always Singular: Each, every, everyone, someone, anyone, no one, nobody, anybody, somebody, either, neither.
  • Correct: "Each of the suspects claims innocence." (Not: "Each... claim")
  • Correct: "Everyone in the forensic team is required to sign the log." (Not: "Everyone... are")
• Always Plural: Both, few, many, several.
  • Correct: "Several of the witnesses remember the vehicle's registration number."

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

A pronoun (e.g., he, she, it, they) must agree in number and gender with its antecedent (the noun that the pronoun replaces).

Singular vs. Plural Antecedents

If the antecedent is singular, the pronoun must be singular. If the antecedent is plural, the pronoun must be plural.

• Incorrect: "Every officer must submit their log before leaving." (Traditionally, "every officer" is singular, so it requires "his or her" or a singular pronoun. However, modern Australian English and Victoria Police guidelines accept they/their as a singular gender-neutral pronoun. On the exam, watch for clear number mismatches).
• Clear Error: "The police vehicle had their headlights turned off." (Since "vehicle" is singular and non-human, the pronoun must be "its", not "their").

Avoiding Vague Pronoun References

In report writing, a vague pronoun reference occurs when a pronoun could refer to more than one noun. This creates legal ambiguity.

• Ambiguous: "The officer chased the suspect until he tripped and fell." (Who tripped? The officer or the suspect?)
• Clear: "The officer chased the suspect until the suspect tripped and fell."
• Ambiguous: "Constable Ryan told Sergeant Patel that his radio was broken." (Whose radio? Ryan's or Patel's?)
• Clear: "Constable Ryan reported that his own radio was broken when speaking with Sergeant Patel."