Subject-Verb Agreement Fundamentals

Understanding subject-verb agreement is crucial for success on the GED RLA practice test PDF. This grammatical rule requires verbs to match their subjects in number - singular subjects take singular verbs, while plural subjects take plural verbs. For singular subjects, add 's' or 'es' to the verb: "The bird spreads its wings." Plural subjects use the base form: "The birds spread their wings."

Highlight: When dealing with prepositional phrases, identify the true subject by looking for the main noun that performs the action, not the objects within phrases.

Prepositional phrases can complicate subject-verb agreement. In sentences like "The author of the stories uses a pen name," students must recognize that "author" is the subject, not "stories." The Sentence fragments and complete sentences GED practice PDF provides extensive practice with these concepts.

Special consideration applies to linking verbs in subject-verb agreement. When a linking verb connects a subject to a predicate nominative, the verb agrees with the subject, not the predicate nominative. For example: "The first act was clowns doing funny tricks." Here, "was" agrees with "act," not "clowns."

Advanced Grammar Concepts for GED Success

The Misplaced and dangling modifiers examples for GED with answers helps students identify and correct common modifier errors. Misplaced modifiers occur when descriptive words or phrases are positioned incorrectly in relation to what they modify. Dangling modifiers lack a clear connection to the element they're meant to describe.

Example: Misplaced: "Walking down the street, a tree caught my attention." Corrected: "Walking down the street, I noticed a tree." The revision properly connects the walking action to the person performing it.

The Misplaced and dangling modifiers Worksheet with answers PDF provides extensive practice opportunities. Students learn to recognize problematic constructions like "Barely visible, John spotted the ship on the horizon," which can be corrected to "John spotted the barely visible ship on the horizon" or "The ship, barely visible on the horizon, was spotted by John."

Understanding these advanced concepts helps students not only on the GED test but also in their future academic and professional writing. Regular practice with Dangling and misplaced modifiers exercises with answers builds confidence and competence in identifying and correcting these common grammatical issues.

Understanding Subject-Verb Agreement Rules for the GED RLA Test

Subject-verb agreement is a crucial grammar concept tested on the GED RLA grammar editing mechanics guide. Understanding these rules helps you identify and correct errors in sentences, which is essential for success on the language portion of the exam.

When dealing with compound subjects, the conjunction connecting the parts determines how the verb should agree. If two subjects are joined by "and," they typically take a plural verb. For example, "The shark and the porpoise are diving." However, when subjects are connected by "or," "nor," "either...or," or "neither...nor," the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Consider this example: "Neither the shark nor the porpoises are diving" or "Neither the sharks nor the porpoise is diving."

Definition: A compound subject consists of two or more subjects joined by a conjunction. The type of conjunction used determines whether the verb should be singular or plural.

Working with collective nouns requires careful attention to meaning. A collective noun (like committee, team, or group) takes a singular verb when referring to the unit as a whole, but uses a plural verb when emphasizing individual members. For instance, "The committee is preparing a plan" treats the committee as one unit, while "The committee are disagreeing about their approaches" emphasizes individual members' actions.