ACT subject-verb agreement questions appear 2-3 times on every test, and they follow predictable patterns you can learn to spot in seconds. The ACT makes these questions tricky by hiding the real subject behind prepositional phrases and interrupting clauses, but once you know the playbook, these become some of the easiest points on the English section.
Subject-verb agreement means the verb in a sentence must match its subject in number. A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb. In the present tense, third-person singular verbs end in -s (she runs, the dog barks), while plural verbs do not (they run, the dogs bark).
This rule sounds straightforward, and it is — when the subject sits right next to the verb. The sentence "The student studies every night" is easy to check. But the ACT English section rarely makes it that simple. Subject-verb agreement falls under Conventions of Standard English, which makes up 52-55% of all ACT English questions.
| Category | % of Questions | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Conventions of Standard English | 52-55% | Grammar, punctuation, sentence structure (includes SVA) |
| Production of Writing | 29-32% | Organization, topic development, unity |
| Knowledge of Language | 15-17% | Word choice, style, tone |
On the ACT, the subject is almost never placed directly before the verb. The test deliberately separates them with prepositional phrases, non-essential clauses, and other modifiers. The noun closest to the verb is usually a different number than the true subject — that is the trap.
Worked Example
Identify the correct verb: "The results of the experiment (shows / show) a clear pattern."
Interrupting phrases are the words and clauses that the ACT wedges between a subject and its verb. Recognizing and mentally removing these phrases is the single most valuable ACT grammar skill you can develop for subject-verb agreement questions.
Prepositional phrases begin with words like of, with, in, for, to, by, at, from, between, among. They add detail but never contain the subject of the sentence. The ACT loves inserting a prepositional phrase whose object is a different number than the real subject.
Consider: "The box of chocolates is on the table." The subject is "box" (singular), not "chocolates." The prepositional phrase "of chocolates" is a distraction. If the test offered "are" as an option, many students would pick it because "chocolates" (plural) sits right before the verb.
Non-essential clauses are set off by commas and provide extra information that could be removed without changing the sentence's core meaning. Appositives rename or describe the subject. Both can separate the subject from the verb and introduce a noun of a different number.
Example: "The mayor, who oversees three deputy commissioners, has announced new budget cuts." The clause between the commas is non-essential. Remove it and you get "The mayor has announced new budget cuts" — singular subject, singular verb.
When you spot an ACT subject-verb agreement question, mentally cross out everything between the subject and the verb. Delete prepositional phrases. Delete clauses between commas. What remains is the stripped-down sentence, and the correct verb choice becomes obvious.
Worked Example
Choose the correct verb: "The teacher, along with her students, (is / are) attending the conference."
When two or more subjects are connected by "and," they form a compound subject that takes a plural verb. This is the most straightforward compound subject rule: "The teacher and the student are ready." Two things joined by "and" are always treated as plural.
This is where students get tripped up. With "or" and "nor," the verb does not automatically become plural. Instead, the verb agrees with whichever subject is closest to it. This is called the proximity rule.
"Neither the dogs nor the cat is outside" is correct because "cat" (singular) is the closest subject. Flip the order — "Neither the cat nor the dogs are outside" — and the verb changes because "dogs" (plural) is now closest.
Worked Example
Select the correct verb: "Neither the players nor the coach (want / wants) to cancel the game."
Some of the most common ACT traps involve indefinite pronouns that sound plural but are grammatically singular. Words like "everyone," "everybody," "each," "either," "neither," "anyone," "someone," "nobody," and "no one" always take singular verbs.
"Everyone has finished the exam" is correct — not "have." The word "everyone" refers to all people in a group, but grammatically it is treated as a single unit. This trips up students who think "everyone" = "all of them" = plural.
| Category | Pronouns | Verb Form |
|---|---|---|
| Always Singular | each, everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, somebody, nobody, no one, either, neither | Singular (is, has, does, -s ending) |
| Always Plural | both, few, many, others, several | Plural (are, have, do, no -s ending) |
| Depends on Context | all, any, some, most, none | Matches the noun they refer to |
The always-plural pronouns are easier to remember: "both," "few," "many," "others," and "several" always take plural verbs. "Both are correct." "Several have arrived."
The trickiest group is the context-dependent pronouns: "all," "any," "some," "most," and "none." These match whatever noun they refer to. "Some of the cake is left" (cake = singular), but "Some of the cookies are left" (cookies = plural).
Collective nouns like "team," "family," "class," "committee," and "audience" are usually singular when referring to the group as a single unit. "The team is winning" is correct when the team acts together. On the ACT, collective nouns almost always take singular verbs.
In most English sentences, the subject comes before the verb. But sentences beginning with "there" flip this order — the subject comes after the verb. "There" is not the subject; it is just a placeholder.
"There are three reasons for this" is correct because the subject is "reasons" (plural), which appears after the verb. Many students mistakenly write "There is three reasons" because "there" sits in the subject position and feels singular.
Questions also invert the subject and verb. In "Where are the results of the study?", the subject "results" follows the verb. Other constructions like "Scattered across the floor were the papers" also place the subject after the verb.
The fix is always the same: rearrange the sentence into standard subject-verb order. "The results are where?" "The papers were scattered across the floor." Once rearranged, the correct verb becomes clear.
Worked Example
Choose the correct verb: "There (is / are) several reasons why students struggle with this topic."
Before you even read the question, scan the answer choices. A dead giveaway that you are dealing with a subject-verb agreement question is when two of the answer choices are identical except one verb has an -s ending and the other does not. For example, if you see both "shows" and "show" among the options, the test is asking you to determine subject-verb agreement.
This recognition step saves time. Once you know it is an SVA question, you can immediately shift into the subject-finding process instead of analyzing other grammar possibilities.
With 75 questions in 45 minutes on the ACT English section, you have about 36 seconds per question. For SVA questions, use this streamlined process:
| Rule | Correct Example | Incorrect Example |
|---|---|---|
| Basic singular/plural | The student studies every night. | The student study every night. |
| Prepositional phrase trap | The box of chocolates is on the table. | The box of chocolates are on the table. |
| Compound subject with 'and' | The teacher and the student are ready. | The teacher and the student is ready. |
| Compound subject with 'or' | Neither the dogs nor the cat is outside. | Neither the dogs nor the cat are outside. |
| Indefinite pronoun | Everyone has finished the exam. | Everyone have finished the exam. |
| Inverted structure | There are three reasons for this. | There is three reasons for this. |
Test your understanding of ACT subject-verb agreement with these practice questions. Each one targets a specific trap type you will encounter on test day.