Subject-verb agreement, modifiers, and parallelism.

Many grammar questions in verbal ability tests depend on a small set of rules. Knowing them lets you recognise errors quickly and choose the correct version of a sentence with confidence.

Subject-verb agreement

• A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb.
• Words between the subject and the verb do not change the subject: in "The list of items is long", the subject is list.
• Two subjects joined by and usually take a plural verb.
• With either ... or and neither ... nor, the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it.
• Each, every, and one are singular. A number of takes a plural verb, while the number of takes a singular verb.

Modifiers

• A modifier should be placed next to the word it describes, or the sentence can become confusing or illogical.
• An opening phrase such as "Walking down the street" must be followed by the person who is walking.
• Words like only and almost change the meaning depending on where they are placed.

Parallelism

• Items in a list should have the same grammatical form.
• Pairs such as not only ... but also should be followed by the same kind of word or phrase.
• In a comparison, compare like with like: the population of one city with the population of another.

How to solve questions

1. Identify which rule the question is testing.
2. Find the subject, the verb, and any modifying phrases.
3. Check each option against the rule and eliminate those that break it.
4. Read the chosen sentence again to make sure the meaning is clear.