Summary: Sentence Correction

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Subject-Verb Agreement
3. Parallelism
4. Tautological Error
5. Misplaced Modifier
6. Use of Few and Less
7. Comparisons
8. Lay and Lie
9. Trust Your Ears
10. Know the Time
11. Run the Numbers
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Introduction

Sentence Correction (SC) tests not only grammar but also correct word usage. Many errors repeat across exams; this summary lists common error types and quick rules to handle them.

Subject-Verb Agreement

• The verb must agree with its subject in number (singular/plural).
• Collective nouns usually take a singular verb; exceptions with plural verbs include cattle, poultry, police, and gentry.
• Subjects joined by and take a plural verb; joined by or/nor the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
• Words like each, everyone, anyone require a singular verb.
• Choice between I (nominative) and me (objective): historical preference for nominative is being relaxed; use objective in comparisons after than or as.
• In neither-nor and either-or constructions, if both subjects are singular use a singular verb; if one subject is plural, the verb matches the nearer (plural) subject.

Parallelism

• Maintain the same grammatical form for items in a series or linked phrases (e.g., all infinitives, all gerunds, etc.).

Tautological Error

• Also called redundancy: avoid repeating the same meaning twice in a sentence.

Misplaced Modifier

• A participle or modifier must clearly attach to the correct subject; otherwise it creates a dangling or misleading construction. Restructure so the modifier directly applies to its intended subject.

Use of Few and Less

• Few goes with countable nouns; less goes with uncountable nouns.
• Few (without article) implies hardly any; a few implies some. The same contrast applies to little vs a little for uncountable nouns.

Comparisons

• Compare like with like; ensure the compared items are the same kind (e.g., population with population).
• With comparatives + than, exclude the item compared from the rest by using forms like "other."
• In superlatives include the group being compared (use constructions like "of all").

Lay and Lie

• Lay, laid, laid - transitive (requires an object).
• Lie, lay, lain - intransitive (does not take an object).

Trust Your Ears

• Read answer choices aloud in your head; prefer the option that sounds grammatically natural - many native rules are internalized.

Know the Time

• Use time cues (e.g., before, during, as, in 1960) to check and eliminate verb tense errors; events in the same time frame must share compatible tenses.

Run the Numbers

• For sentences about quantities, check idiomatic usage: use fewer with countables and less with uncountables.
• Watch for numeric redundancies and idiomatic phrasing errors.