HOW DO I MAKE THE SUBJECT IN MY SENTENCE AGREE WITH PRONOUNS AND VERBS THAT FOLLOW?
by Kathy McLain, M.A.  

Students create "math" or "logic" problems in their sentences when the subject they choose is not followed with a logical pronoun or verb.  For example, if a student wrote the following:

"A number of students frequently creates "math" or "logic" problems in his sentences when the subject he chooses is not followed with a logical pronoun or verb."

("creates" should be "create" because the subject of the sentence is plural)
("his" should be "their" because the subject of the sentence is plural)
("he" should be "they" because the subject of the sentence is plural)
("chooses" should be "choose" because the subject of the sentence is plural) 

The student version of the first sentence of this explanation demonstrates how many errors a writer could potentially make in subject pronoun and subject verb agreement.  Students try to "hear" these errors in proofreading, but often these errors cannot be heard by instinct; instead, one has to know basic grammar rules.  These types of errors are frequently included as questions on graduate admissions tests.

College students should not make subject/pronoun and subject/verb agreement errors.

For help in correcting these types of errors, you can click on the following selections: