Grammar and Usage (SAT)

Subject-Verb Agreement

Rule: Subjects and verbs must agree in number (singular/plural).

Common Traps

❌ Prepositional phrases between subject and verb:

• "The box of chocolates are here" → WRONG
• "The box of chocolates is here" → ✓ (subject is "box")

❌ Compound subjects:

• "Tom and Jerry is friends" → WRONG
• "Tom and Jerry are friends" → ✓ (two people = plural)

Pronoun Agreement

Rule: Pronouns must agree with their antecedent in number.

❌ "Each student must bring their book" → WRONG ✓ "Each student must bring his or her book" ✓ "Students must bring their books"

Verb Tense Consistency

Rule: Keep tenses consistent unless time shifts.

❌ "She walks to school and bought lunch" → WRONG ✓ "She walked to school and bought lunch" → both past ✓ "She walks to school and buys lunch" → both present

Common SAT Errors

1. Who vs. Whom

• Who = subject (who did it?)
• Whom = object (to whom? for whom?)

2. Its vs. It's

• Its = possessive
• It's = it is

3. Their/There/They're

• Their = possessive
• There = location
• They're = they are