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.
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.