Grammar and usage conventions on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: applying subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement and clear pronoun reference, consistent verb tense, and correct word usage (commonly confused words), as tested in editing items and scored in the Standard English Conventions trait of the long composition.

What this skill is asking

Grammar and usage conventions are the standard rules of English that the Grade 10 ELA MCAS tests in two places: directly, in editing items that ask you to correct or improve a sentence, and indirectly, in the Standard English Conventions trait of the long composition, where the same rules are scored on your own writing. The core conventions are subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement and clear reference, consistent verb tense, and correct word usage (the commonly confused words like there, their, and they're). The skill students lose points on is matching a verb to the nearest noun rather than the true subject, leaving a pronoun's reference unclear, or shifting tense without reason. This page covers the high-frequency conventions and how to apply them. The transferable skill is controlling the mechanics of a sentence so meaning is clear, which serves both the editing items and the essay.

Agreement: subjects, verbs, and pronouns

The first conventions to master are the agreement rules.

Agreement errors are common because they hide behind intervening words: a long phrase between the subject and the verb tempts you to match the verb to the nearest noun. The fix is to find the true subject by stripping out the modifying phrases, then match the verb to it. For pronouns, ask "which noun does this stand for, and is there only one it could be?" If a reader could reasonably attach the pronoun to two different nouns, the reference is unclear, and the editing answer is the version that makes it specific.

Tense and word usage

Because the conventions are tested in editing items and scored on the essay, the rules are worth knowing as rules, not just recognizing by ear, because the ear that misreads "their" for "there" in editing will misspell it in the essay. The Standard English Conventions trait of the long composition rewards a response that controls grammar, usage, sentence structure, and mechanics across the whole piece, so the same agreement, tense, and usage habits that answer an editing item also lift your essay score. Building a short proofreading checklist around these errors is one of the most reliable ways to gain points in both places.

Working a grammar and usage item

Try this

Q1. In "the box of old letters (was / were) in the attic," which verb is correct and why? [Recall]

• Cue. "Was," because the subject is "box" (singular), not "letters." The phrase "of old letters" comes between the subject and verb but does not change the singular subject.

Q2. A student writes, "Each player must bring their own gear, and they're responsible for it." Identify the usage issues. [Short explanation]

• Cue. "Their" is a common, widely accepted choice with the singular "each player," though some style guides prefer "his or her"; the clearest fix is to make the subject plural ("players"). "They're" (they are) is correct here, and "it" should clearly refer to the gear, which it does. The reliable check is to read for agreement and to expand "they're" to "they are" to confirm it fits.