Agreement means that verbs match their subjects and pronouns match the nouns they replace. In a long paragraph the subject can drift far from its verb, so a short checklist catches what a quick read misses.
This lesson finishes the cloze and language use chapter after using collocations and prepositions accurately.
What is the four-step checklist?
Run these steps on any paragraph you want to check.
- Underline every verb.
- For each verb, ask “who or what does this?” and find the true subject.
- Check that the verb matches the subject in number and tense.
- Check that each pronoun points to a clear noun and matches it.
Worked example: a paragraph with errors
“A group of students were waiting at the gate. Each of the members have to bring their own container. The number of volunteers are growing, and the teacher say it is good news.”
Apply the checklist line by line.
- “A group … were waiting”: the subject is group, which is singular. Correct: was waiting.
- “Each of the members have”: the subject is each, which is singular. Correct: has. The corrected version also drops “their own”, which keeps the sentence simple.
- “The number of volunteers are growing”: the number is the subject, singular. Correct: is growing.
- “The teacher say”: a singular subject needs says.
The corrected paragraph: “A group of students was waiting at the gate. Each of the members has to bring a container. The number of volunteers is growing, and the teacher says it is good news.”
The mistake that costs marks
Most errors come from matching the verb to the noun nearest to it. That noun is often part of a phrase that only describes the subject.
| Sentence | Nearest noun | True subject | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| The box of pencils ___ on the desk. | pencils | box | is |
| One of the reasons ___ the weather. | reasons | one | is |
| A number of students ___ absent. | students | a number (plural meaning) | are |
The last row is the exception. “A number of” means several and takes a plural verb, while “the number of” takes a singular one.
Check yourself
Complete the sentence: “One of the reasons for the delay ___ (be) the weather.”
Answer
The answer is is.
The subject is “one”, not “reasons”. “For the delay” and “of the reasons” are phrases that add detail and do not change the subject.
What to study next
Test all four skills on the cloze and language use practice set. Keep the English writing task checklist next to your own drafts so you can run the agreement steps on them.
If you want a teacher to train your eye on your own paragraphs, see online one-to-one English tuition.