Grammar and Usage
The Grammar and Usage domain tests whether you can apply standard English rules inside real sentences, not just name parts of speech. NGSA-style items ask you to select the correct verb, pronoun, article, preposition, or modifier, and to recognise the sentence that is grammatically acceptable. The most reliable habit is to locate the subject or the word being modified before you look at the options.
Agreement: match the verb to the real subject
- A singular subject takes a singular verb; a plural subject takes a plural verb.
- Ignore phrases between the subject and verb. In 'The box of chocolates __ on the table', the subject is box, not chocolates.
- Subjects joined by and are plural, but subjects joined by with, as well as, or together with do not change the number of the first subject: 'The captain, with his players, is ready.'
- Indefinite pronouns such as each, everyone, somebody, nobody, and either are singular.
- Collective nouns such as team, family, and class are usually singular when the group acts as one unit.
Tense, pronouns, and modifiers
- Keep tenses consistent unless the time really changes.
- A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and gender, and its case must match its job: 'She and I went' but 'between you and me'.
- Adjectives modify nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Use the comparative for two things and the superlative for three or more.
- Choose a or an by sound: an hour, a university.
Worked example
Choose the correct verb: 'The list of items (was / were) pinned to the door.' Reasoning: the subject is list, which is singular. 'Of items' is a prepositional phrase describing list and cannot control the verb. The singular verb was agrees with list. Answer: was.
Traps that cost marks
- Matching the verb to the nearest noun instead of the subject.
- Treating each or every as plural.
- Shifting from past to present in the middle of a narrative.
- Using I where me is needed after a preposition.
- Using less with countable nouns; fewer is correct there.
The safest method is to strip the sentence to its subject and verb, decide the number, then re-read the full sentence to check meaning and tense.