Usage: Agreement, Case, Tense, and Word Choice
Agreement and case
Usage questions test standard written English, especially subject–verb agreement, pronoun–antecedent agreement, pronoun case, and verb tense. Find the true subject and ignore interrupting phrases: in The box of invoices was delivered, the subject is box, not invoices. Indefinite pronouns such as each, either, everyone, and nobody are singular. With either...or and neither...nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject. Collective nouns (committee, team) are usually singular in American usage.
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number: Every student must bring his or her ID in formal prose, or rewrite in the plural. Case matters after prepositions and in comparisons: between you and me; She is taller than I [am].
Verbs and word choice
Keep tense consistent unless meaning requires a shift. Watch commonly confused words: affect (verb) vs. effect (noun); its (possessive) vs. it's (it is); their/there/they're; then (time) vs. than (comparison); fewer for countable items, less for quantity.
Traps
- A prepositional phrase between subject and verb: The list of items were long → was.
- There is/are constructions: the verb agrees with the noun that follows it.
- Compound subjects joined by and take plural verbs unless the pair is a single idea.
- Comparisons must be complete enough to be logical.
Worked example
Neither the manager nor the employees was aware of the change. The nearer subject is employees, so use were: Neither the manager nor the employees were aware of the change.
Rule of thumb: bracket out every phrase between a subject and its verb before deciding singular or plural.