5 Tricky SAT Subject-Verb Agreement Rules Most Students Miss

SAT subject verb agreement questions test whether you can match a verb to its true subject, even when the sentence is designed to make the real subject hard to find. The basic rule is simple: singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs. But the SAT doesn't test the basic rule. It tests your ability to apply that rule when the sentence places distracting phrases between the subject and verb, uses unusual sentence structures, or includes subjects that look plural but are actually singular. Once you learn the five patterns the SAT uses to make these questions tricky, you'll be able to answer them quickly and confidently.

Here are the tricky cases, the strategies to handle each one, and a reliable approach that works every time.

The one strategy that solves every SAT subject verb agreement question

Before diving into the specific tricky patterns, learn this universal strategy: find the subject first, then match the verb.

That sounds obvious, but most errors on agreement questions happen because students match the verb to the wrong word. The SAT deliberately places other nouns between the subject and the verb to create confusion. Your job is to ignore those distracting nouns and find the actual subject of the sentence.

Here's how:

1. Identify the verb that's being tested (it's usually the one that's underlined or part of the answer choices)
2. Ask "who or what is doing this action?" The answer is your subject
3. Determine if that subject is singular or plural
4. Choose the verb form that matches

If you can reliably find the true subject, you'll get these questions right regardless of how complicated the sentence looks. The five patterns below are simply the ways the SAT tries to trick you into picking the wrong subject.

Pattern 1: Intervening phrases between subject and verb

This is the most common trick on the SAT. The test places a prepositional phrase, a relative clause, or an appositive between the subject and the verb. The phrase contains a noun that doesn't match the subject's number, and students accidentally match the verb to that closer noun instead of the actual subject.

How it works:

"The collection of rare paintings is valuable." (not "are")

The subject is "collection" (singular), not "paintings" (plural). The phrase "of rare paintings" is a prepositional phrase that modifies the subject but doesn't change its number.

More examples of intervening phrases:

• "The results of the experiment show a clear trend." (subject: results, plural)
• "The professor, along with her graduate students, is presenting at the conference." (subject: professor, singular)
• "The box of chocolates was left on the counter." (subject: box, singular)

The phrases that trap students most often:

| Phrase Type | Example | Does it change the subject's number? | |-------------|---------|--------------------------------------| | "of + noun" | the list of items | No | | "along with" | the teacher along with students | No | | "as well as" | the manager as well as employees | No | | "together with" | the captain together with the crew | No | | "in addition to" | the book in addition to the articles | No | | "including" | the package including the accessories | No |

None of these phrases change the number of the subject. "The teacher along with students" is still singular because the subject is "teacher." This is one of the most heavily tested patterns for SAT subject verb agreement.

Our grammar rules cheat sheet covers this and every other grammar rule the SAT tests, organized in a format you can review quickly before test day.

Pattern 2: Compound subjects and the "or/nor" rule

Compound subjects joined by "and" are almost always plural. That part is straightforward: "The dog and the cat are outside." Two things joined by "and" make a plural subject.

The tricky part comes with "or," "nor," "either...or," and "neither...nor." With these conjunctions, the verb agrees with the closer subject (the one nearer to the verb).

How it works:

• "Neither the students nor the teacher was prepared." (verb matches "teacher," singular, because it's closer)
• "Neither the teacher nor the students were prepared." (verb matches "students," plural, because it's closer)
• "Either the manager or the employees have the key." (verb matches "employees," plural)
• "Either the employees or the manager has the key." (verb matches "manager," singular)

The rule: With "or/nor," look at the subject closest to the verb. Match the verb to that subject's number.

This pattern appears less frequently than intervening phrases, but when it shows up, students who don't know the rule almost always get it wrong.

Pattern 3: Indefinite pronouns as subjects

Indefinite pronouns are words like "everyone," "each," "nobody," and "several." Some are always singular, some are always plural, and a few can be either depending on context. The SAT tests the ones students are most likely to get wrong.

Always singular (these trip students up the most)

• each
• every
• everyone, everybody, everything
• anyone, anybody, anything
• someone, somebody, something
• no one, nobody, nothing
• either, neither

Examples:

• "Each of the students has a textbook." (not "have," even though "students" is right there)
• "Everyone in the three classes is required to attend." (not "are")
• "Neither of the options seems appealing." (not "seem")

Notice how the SAT pairs these singular pronouns with nearby plural nouns ("students," "classes," "options") to tempt you into using a plural verb. This is the intervening phrase trick combined with the indefinite pronoun trick.

Always plural

• both
• few
• many
• several

Examples:

• "Both of the answers are correct."
• "Several of the participants have dropped out."

Depends on context

• all
• any
• most
• none
• some

These match the noun they refer to. "Some of the water is gone" (water is singular/uncountable). "Some of the students are absent" (students is plural).

Pattern 4: Inverted sentences (when the subject comes after the verb)

In standard English word order, the subject comes before the verb: "The book is on the table." But some sentence structures flip this order, placing the verb before the subject. When this happens, students often struggle to identify the subject at all.

Sentences beginning with "there" or "here"

"There" and "here" are never the subject. In sentences that begin with these words, the real subject comes after the verb.

• "There are several reasons for the decline." (subject: reasons, plural)
• "There is a problem with the data." (subject: problem, singular)
• "Here come the results." (subject: results, plural)

Questions

In questions, the subject often appears between parts of the verb.

• "Does the experiment confirm the hypothesis?" (subject: experiment, singular)
• "Have the researchers published their findings?" (subject: researchers, plural)

Inverted constructions for emphasis

Sometimes writers invert the subject and verb for stylistic effect.

• "Among the ruins stands a single column." (subject: column, singular)
• "In the garden grow several varieties of roses." (subject: varieties, plural)

The strategy remains the same: find the subject, determine its number, then match the verb. With inverted sentences, you just have to look after the verb instead of before it.

Pattern 5: Collective nouns and tricky singular subjects

Collective nouns name groups: team, committee, audience, family, class, jury, group. In American English (which the SAT uses), collective nouns are treated as singular when the group acts as a unit.

• "The team is traveling to the championship." (not "are")
• "The committee has made its decision." (not "have")
• "The audience was impressed by the performance." (not "were")

Other subjects that look plural but are singular

Subjects with "every" or "each" before them:

• "Every student and teacher is expected to attend." (Even though there are two nouns joined by "and," the word "every" makes each one individually singular.)

Titles, organization names, and words used as words:

• "The New York Times publishes daily." (one newspaper)
• "Economics is a required course." (one field of study)
• "Fifty dollars is a lot for a textbook." (one amount)

Gerund phrases (verb forms used as subjects):

• "Running three miles every morning is exhausting." (The activity as a whole is singular.)

How to practice SAT subject verb agreement questions

The cross-out drill

Take practice sentences and physically cross out every prepositional phrase and every clause between the subject and verb. What's left is the subject and the verb. Do they agree? This drill trains your eye to skip over the intervening material automatically.

Before crossing out: "The collection of antique maps, which were recently donated by a local historian, is now on display."

After crossing out: "The collection ~~of antique maps, which were recently donated by a local historian,~~ is now on display."

Subject: collection (singular). Verb: is (singular). They agree.

The isolation drill

For each practice question, write down just the subject and the verb side by side. "Collection...is." "Results...show." "Each...has." When you see them next to each other without the distracting material, the correct answer is usually obvious. This proves that SAT subject verb agreement questions are about finding the subject, not about knowing complex grammar.

Practice under timed conditions

On the real test, you need to identify the subject and match the verb in about 30 seconds. Practice with a timer. If you're consistently taking longer, the cross-out drill above will build the speed you need. Our time management strategies guide covers how to pace yourself across the full reading and writing section.

Try a free practice test on MockCamp to see how subject-verb agreement questions appear alongside other grammar conventions in the reading and writing section.

How subject-verb agreement connects to other SAT grammar topics

Subject-verb agreement doesn't exist in isolation on the SAT. It connects to several other grammar skills:

• Pronoun agreement follows similar logic. If the subject is singular, the pronoun that refers to it must also be singular. The same intervening phrases that trick you on verb agreement can trick you on pronoun agreement.
• Sentence boundary questions sometimes require you to identify the subject and verb to determine whether a group of words is a complete sentence or a fragment. Our sentence boundaries guide covers these connections.
• Verb tense questions test a different aspect of verbs (when the action happens), but they share the same first step: identify the subject. Our practice guides page links to resources for each of these related skills.

Understanding agreement makes these other question types easier because you've already built the habit of finding the subject before making any decision about the verb.

The bottom line

SAT subject verb agreement questions are designed to look harder than they are. The grammar rule itself is simple: singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs. The difficulty comes entirely from the SAT's tricks to disguise the real subject. There are five main patterns: intervening phrases between subject and verb, compound subjects with or/nor, indefinite pronouns, inverted sentence structures, and collective nouns. The strategy for all five is the same: find the true subject first, determine whether it's singular or plural, then match the verb. Practice the cross-out drill until it becomes automatic, and these questions will be some of the fastest points you can earn on the test.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many subject-verb agreement questions are on the SAT?

You can expect 1 to 3 questions per test that directly test subject-verb agreement as part of the Standard English Conventions category. However, the skill of identifying subjects and verbs also helps with pronoun agreement, sentence structure, and verb tense questions, so the underlying skill is relevant to 5 to 8 questions per test. Subject-verb agreement questions are typically medium difficulty, making them high-value targets for score improvement.

What's the fastest way to find the subject in a tricky SAT sentence?

Find the verb first, then ask "who or what is doing this action?" Cross out all prepositional phrases (starting with words like "of," "in," "with," "for," "between") and any clauses set off by commas. Whatever noun remains connected to the verb is your subject. With practice, this process takes about 10 seconds per question.

Do collective nouns take singular or plural verbs on the SAT?

On the SAT, collective nouns (team, committee, group, audience, family, class) take singular verbs. The SAT follows American English conventions, where collective nouns are treated as singular when the group acts as a unit, which is almost always the case on the test. So "the team is" (not "the team are"), "the committee has" (not "the committee have"), and "the audience was" (not "the audience were").

Is "none" singular or plural on the SAT?

"None" can be either singular or plural depending on what it refers to. "None of the water is contaminated" (singular, because water is uncountable). "None of the students are absent" (plural, because students is countable and plural). On the SAT, context will make it clear which interpretation is correct. Look at the noun in the prepositional phrase after "none" to determine the right verb form.