Subject-verb agreement
- The verb agrees with the real subject, not the nearest noun: “The list of items is on the desk.”
- Each, every, either, neither and one take a singular verb: “Each of the employees has a badge.”
- With “either…or” and “neither…nor,” the verb agrees with the subject closer to it: “Neither the manager nor the employees were present.”
Verb tenses
Keep tenses consistent within a sentence unless the time really changes. “She finished the report and submitted it” is correct, while “She finished the report and submits it” is not. Use the past perfect for an action that happened before another past action: “He had left before the meeting started.”
Pronouns
- After a preposition use the object form: “between you and me,” not “between you and I.”
- “Who” is for the subject and “whom” is for the object: “Whom did you invite?”
- A pronoun must agree with the noun it replaces in number: “A student should bring his or her own pen.”
Parallel structure
Items in a list must have the same form. “She likes swimming, jogging and to read” is incorrect. Say “swimming, jogging and reading.”
Commonly confused words
- its (belongs to it) and it’s (it is)
- their (belongs to them), there (a place) and they’re (they are)
- affect (to influence, usually a verb) and effect (a result, usually a noun)
- fewer (things you can count) and less (amounts you cannot count)
- then (time) and than (comparison)
Misplaced modifiers
Put a describing phrase next to the word it describes. “Walking to the office, the rain started” suggests the rain was walking. Say “Walking to the office, I was caught in the rain.”
Practice
Read the explanation for every grammar question you miss in our free Verbal Ability reviewer, and keep a short list of your own common mistakes.