Sentence Correction
Subject Verb agreement
Subject and verb must make sense together
Singular subject requires a singular verb form
Plural subject requires a plural verb form’
Only the word and can turn singular subjects into plural subjects
All other additive phrases like along with, in addition to etc don’t turn singular objects
into plural
Therefore, Joe, as well his friends, is going to the beach
Mathematics, in addition to history and science, is a required subject.
When either or, neither nor is used, the form of the subject closer to the verb must be
used to determine the form of the verb
But, either as a pronoun is singular. Either of the two drinks is fine with me
Collective nouns almost always singular – Our army of a hundred thousand soldiers is
attacking the enemy, string of burglaries, the orchestra
Pronouns like anyone, anybody, every, some… are singular
Not one of my friends is here this weekend
The phrase the number of takes singular verbs, but a number of takes plural verbs
If you want to indicate many individual parts of totality use plural, if you want to
indicate totality use singular. In the Senate, the majority has coalesced into a unified
voting block
IMP – Sometimes the order needs to be flipped
[Wrong] – There is an old woman and a young man at the bus stop
[Right] – There are an old woman and a young man at the bus stop.
Mostly confusing subjects are singular
Parallelism
Multi level parallelism
[Wrong] She argues that the agency acts with disregard for human life and property
and reckless abandon and it should therefore be shutdown
[Right] She argues that the agency acts with reckless abandon and with disregard for
human and property and that it should therefore be shut down.
That agency acts -that it should
with reckless abandon – disregard for x & y
human life – property
Do not assume all verbs and verbal forms in a sentence must be parallel
Sal applied himself in his new job, arriving eatly everyday, skipping lunch regularly
and leaving late every night. [Correct, applied is the main verb, the rest of the verbs
give additional information]
[IMP] Linking verbs. Consider all linking verbs as parallel markers
They link subject to the object, as in what condition is the subject in, or what is it
doing
Eg – appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, represent etc
[Wrong] Upon being nominated, tis politician represents a step forward in urban-rural
relations in this country
[Right] The nomination of this politician represents a step forward in urban rural
relations in this country
Solve Problem Set of MGMAT SC
Pronouns
Antecedent must make sense in place of pronouns
[Wrong] All the term supercomputer may fanciful or exaggerated, it is simply in
extremely fast mainframe that execute trillions of calculations every second
[Right] All the term supercomputer may fanciful or exaggerated, it is simply refers to
an extremely fast mainframe that execute trillions of calculations every second
‘Its’ is singular
[Wrong] Confronted by radical changes in production and distribution model
Hollywood Studios are attempting various experiments in an effort to retain its status
as the primary arbiter of movie consumption
[Right] Confronted by radical changes in production and distribution model
Hollywood Studios are attempting various experiments in an effort to retain their
status as the primary arbiter of movie consumption
Whenever you encounter it, its, they, them, and their check their relationship with
their antecedents, whether they are in agreement
[Wrong] Whenever a student calls, take down their information
[Right] Whenever a student calls, take down his or her information
[Right] Whenever students call, take down his or her information
That those when create new copies, must be in agreement with the previous version.
[Wrong] Her company is outperforming those of her competitors
[Right] Her company is outperforming the companies of her competitors
Modifiers
NEED TO MAKE MORE NOTES
Clauses led by that cannot modify people. Whose can modify people or things
[Wrong] The scientists that made the discovery were rewarded
[Right] The scientists who made the discovery were rewarded
Who vs whom ???
Where can be used to modify a pace, area etc but not metaphorical place such as
condition situation etc
[Wrong] We had an arrangement where he cooked and I cleaned
[Right] We had an arrangement in which he cooked and I cleaned
Essential modifies DO NOT need commas. Also use that
Non-essential modifiers NEED commas. Also use which
Use which only to refer to the noun immediately preceding it, never to refer to an
entire clause
Verbs
NEED TO MAKE MORE NOTES
[Wrong] We propose the school board disbands
[Right] We propose that the school board disband
[Wrong] I like ice cream whether it be chocolate Vanilla or any other flavour
[Right] I like ice cream whether it is chocolate Vanilla or any other flavour
Will vs would ???
Hypothetical subjunctive mood???
Command subjunctive mood???
Misc
Despite is a preposition, needs to be followed by nouns, although is a conjunction,
needs to be followed by a finite clause
Whether vs if???
