Grammar and English Usage
What is tested
Usage items test standard written English: subject-verb agreement, pronoun case and reference, tense consistency, modifier placement, parallelism, comparisons, and punctuation (commas, semicolons, apostrophes, quotation marks). Also expect fragments and run-ons.
Rules that pay off
- Find the real subject. Long prepositional phrases sit between subject and verb: The box of files (was/were) on the desk → was.
- Compound subjects joined by and take a plural verb; with or/nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
- Collective nouns (department, jury, staff) are usually singular in U.S. usage.
- Pronoun case: after between, with, to, use the object form - between you and me. Who = subject, whom = object.
- Modifiers must touch what they describe. Walking to the car, the radio crackled says the radio walked.
- Parallelism: items in a list or comparison must match in form.
- Apostrophes: its = possessive, it's = it is.
Traps
- Comma splices: two complete sentences joined only by a comma. Repair with a semicolon, a period, or a conjunction.
- Interrupting phrases that hide a disagreement: The officer, along with two deputies, was…
- Comparisons that omit the group: better than any other officer, not better than any officer.
- Dangling or misplaced modifiers at the start of a sentence.
Worked example
Neither of the witnesses ___ willing to speak. Options: was / were. The subject is neither, which is singular, so choose was. The nearby plural witnesses is the lure; always trace the verb back to its true subject, ignoring the phrase in between.