The verb in a sentence must agree with its subject.
(i) They both should be either singular or plural.
Example:
(ii) In case, the subject is a collective noun, then the verb will take a singular form.
Example:
Note: There are four collective nouns viz.- cattle, poultry, police, and gentry; with these nouns, we use a plural verb. There are exceptions to the rule.
(iii) In case, the subjects are connected by AND; they require a plural verb.
Example:
If the subjects are connected by OR, the verb used will be singular
Example:
In case there are two different subjects; the verb is put matching the closure subject.
Example:
(iv) All the sentences that begin with EACH, EVERYONE, and ANYONE will have a singular verb.
Example:
(v) I, Me: While deciding between the nominative form (i.e. I ) and the objective form (i.e., me); earlier the nominative form was preferred.
Example:
But lately, its use is considered formal and overcorrect. We usually use the objective form, i.e. there is no difference between you and me.
Example:
But whenever a comparison is made with THAN or AS; the objective form is used.
Example:
(vi) In the constructions of NEITHER-NOR and EITHER-OR; if both the subjects are singular, the verb will also be singular example Either the mother or the daughter has cooked the meal.
But when one of the subjects is joined by OR or NOR is plural, the verb must be plural and the subject should be placed near the verb.
Example:
While forming a sentence, the structure of the sentence should be kept parallel. If an infinitive is used, then all the phrases should have an infinitive. If a verb is used after it, then we use the objective cases.
Example:
Sometimes also referred to as ‘redundancy’, this is the error of writing the same thing twice.
Example:
A common blunder is to leave a participle dangling without a subject.
Example:
Few is used before countable nouns while ‘less’ is used before uncountable nouns.
Example:
Similarly ‘little’ and ‘a little’ are used for quantity in the same manner. There is little hope of his recovery (almost nil). A little tact would have saved the situation (some tact).
The comparisons made should be between two similar things. If we say:- The population of London is greater than any other city in India. We are comparing:-
While a comparison had to be made between the populations of both. So, the correct expression should be:-
(a) When a comparative degree is used with than, make sure that we exclude the thing compared from the rest of the class of things by using the -
Example:
Similarly, Solomon was wiser than all other men.
In a superlative degree, we must include the thing compared.
Solomon was the wisest of all men.
We need to distinguish between these two words as they are used very differently.
(a) Lay, laid, laid
‘Lay the table’ ordered the mistress
He laid the guitar by his side.
The hen had laid an egg.
(b) Lie, Lay, Lain
Let me lie down here.
He lay under the Banyan tree.
He had lain in the sun for three hours yesterday.
If you become stuck, 'say' the choices in your head and then select the passage that sounds best to your ears. Most test takers, particularly native English speakers, have internalized many more grammar rules than they can explicitly identify.
Use time cues (ex. before, during, as, in 1960) to eliminate options that contain verb tense errors. Remember, events that occur during the same time period must be in the same tense!
If a sentence is about some sort of numerical quantity (ex. the percentage of homeowners in Minneapolis or the number of women studying French) check for idiomatic errors. Remember: "fewer" describes a countable quantity, like people; "less" describes an uncountable quantity, like sugar. Also, check for redundancy (ex. "went up by a 20% increase").
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