English Grammar Practice - (Subject-Verb & Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement)

Directions: In each of the following sentences, a verb is needed. Using clues from the sentence, decide whether the verb should be singular or plural. Then select the correct verb from the choices given.

1. The governor, having met with her advisers and developed a negotiating strategy for dealing with the angry workers, (was, were) finally ready to join the bargaining session.

2. Here in the deepest recesses of the ocean (is, are) some of the most mysterious creatures on Earth.

3. Either the members of the defensive squad or Coach Mayo himself (is, are) sure to have some explanation for the way the game ended.

4. The story of the four hundred members of the 29th Cavalry and their heroic exploits on several battlefields (is, are) truly remarkable.

5. The elementary school cafeteria offers twelve kinds of sandwiches, yet peanut butter and jelly (remains, remain) the most popular of all.

Directions: In each of the following sentences, a pronoun is required. Select the correct pronoun, based upon clues from the sentence.

6. According to the police officer’s testimony, someone was seen entering the bank just before the robbery carrying a red pocketbook under (her, their) arm.

7. Both of the skydivers had brought (his, their) own parachutes and safety gear in preparation for tomorrow’s jump.

8. Anyone who wants to attend next Saturday’s dance at the Rotary Club can pick up (his or her, their) ticket at the information booth on Vincy Street.

9. No one knows whether any of the churches or synagogues in town will provide space in (its, their) buildings for a homeless shelter.

10. Either Nadia or her sister didn't finish (her, their) dinner.

Answers (Highlight the text below to see and evaluate your answers)

1. Here 'Governor' is the subject, which is singular, hence we need a singular verb 'WAS'.

2. The subject of the sentence is 'Some' (indefinite pronoun), the object of the prepositional phrase that follows 'creatures' is plural, so we need a plural verb 'ARE'

3. Here we have a compound subject; hence the verb should match the subject close to the verb. Therefore we need a singular verb in this case 'IS'

4. In this sentence there are a lot of words between the subject and the verb. Start by eliminating the prepositional phrases, so the subject is 'Story', therefore we need a singular verb 'IS'

5. The subject of the second clause here is 'peanut butter and jelly', even though we have the conjunction 'and' here the subject represents only one item, hence we need a singular verb 'REMAINS'

6. In the sentence the indefinite pronoun 'someone'  is the antecedent. Remember indefinite pronouns ending with -body/-one are singular. Hence in the sentence we need a singular pronoun 'HER'.

7. In the sentence we have the indefinite pronoun 'both' as the antecedent. 'Both' is a plural, hence we need the second pronoun 'THEIR' to match the antecedent.

8. Here the antecedent is 'Anyone'. Hence we need a singular pronoun to refer 'HIS OR HER'

9. Here the antecedent is 'any' (SANAM) pronoun. The object of the prepositional phrase 'churches' is plural hence we need a plural pronoun 'THEIR'.

10.When the antecedent of a possessive pronoun is a compound subject joined by the conjunction “or,” the pronoun must agree with the term that is closest to the verb: the antecedent is considered singular when the term closest to the verb is singular and plural when the term closest to the verb is plural. Therefore, since “her sister” (the term closest to the verb) is singular, we must use the singular possessive pronoun “HER.” (Had the sentence begun “Either Nadia or her sisters didn’t finish,” we would have used the plural possessive pronoun “their” instead to agree with “her sisters.”)