This document provides tips for avoiding singular-plural errors on the SAT. It discusses common singular-plural errors involving verbs and subjects as well as pronouns and antecedents. Four tips are provided: [1] certain words like "anybody" are always singular; [2] words like "several" are always plural; [3] numbers like "a number" are plural while "the number" is singular; [4] pronouns agree with the closest noun for "either/or" and "neither/nor" constructions. Examples are given to illustrate each tip.

1. +
Singular-Plural
A Grammar Error on the SAT

2. +
Singular-Plural Errors
 Verbs and their subjects
The banana are ripe.
 Pronouns and their antecedents
Every coat on this rack has outlived their usefulness.

3. +Tip #1: Some words are ALWAYS singular.
 Anybody
Example
 Anything
 Anyone My professor believes that
 Everybody anybody are fully capable of
exploring their full potential.
 Everything
 Everyone My professor believes that
anybody is fully capable of
 Nobody
exploring his or her full potential.
 Nothing
 No one

4. +Tip #2: Some words are ALWAYS plural.
Example
 Several
Both of the authors makes his or
 Few her point very well.
 Both
Both of the authors make their
 Many point very well.

5. + ip #3: “A” number and “The” number
T
A number of X is always plural.
A number of students eats at the
cafeteria every day.
The number of X is always singular.
The number of students at my school
have steadily increased over the
years.

6. + Tip #4: “Either…or” and “Neither…nor”
Examples
Neither the driver nor the tour
 For “Either…or” and
“Neither…nor”, the guides does his job.
antecedent pronoun
agrees with
CLOSEST noun.
Neither the tour guides nor the
driver do his job.

7. The SAT is a trickster.
The sheer number of calculation errors in Timmy's
formal lab report, done the morning after prom,
were, even by Timmy's lackluster standards,
+ incredibly overwhelming.
The painting, stolen by the men in the ski
masks, were found hidden in a warehouse
behind the church.