How do you find the true subject or antecedent in a sentence and make the verb or pronoun agree with it, especially when a phrase hides the real subject?
Subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement: matching a verb to the number of its true subject (despite intervening phrases or tricky subjects like collective nouns and indefinite pronouns), and matching a pronoun to the number of its antecedent, on the Virginia EOC Writing test's editing items and the Short Paper's Usage and Mechanics domain.
How to fix agreement errors on the Virginia EOC Writing test: matching a verb to its true subject despite intervening phrases, handling collective nouns and indefinite pronouns, and matching a pronoun to its antecedent. Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this skill is asking
Agreement is the most-tested usage area on the Virginia EOC Writing test, and it has two forms: subject-verb agreement (the verb must match the number of its subject) and pronoun-antecedent agreement (a pronoun must match the noun it refers to). The EOC tests these with multiple-choice "which is correct" items and with drop-down items, and the same conventions are scored on the Short Paper's Usage and Mechanics domain. The traps are predictable: a phrase between the subject and verb that hides the true subject, collective nouns, and indefinite pronouns like "each" that look plural but are singular. This page covers finding the true subject or antecedent and matching for number, the move that resolves almost every agreement question.
Subject-verb agreement: find the true subject
The verb agrees with the subject, not the nearest noun.
The reliable routine is to strip the modifiers and ask "what is this verb actually about?". In "The list of supplies (was/were) on the desk," the verb is about the "list" (singular), not the "supplies," so "was" is correct. Prepositional phrases ("of...", "with...", "along with...") between subject and verb do not change the subject's number. This single habit, find the head noun, ignore the phrase, resolves the great majority of subject-verb items.
Tricky subjects: collective nouns and indefinite pronouns
These subjects are tested precisely because they look plural. "Each of the players (is/are) ready" takes "is," because the subject is "each" (singular), not "players." The same logic governs the pronoun: "each... his or her," not "their." Memorizing the common singular indefinite pronouns (each, every, everyone, anyone, either, neither, one) pays off, because the EOC returns to them often, in both subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent items.
Pronoun-antecedent agreement
Try this
Q1. In "The group of tourists (was/were) waiting," which verb is correct and why? [Recall]
- Cue. "Was." The subject is "group" (a collective noun, treated as singular), not "tourists"; the phrase "of tourists" is a modifier. The verb matches the true subject, so the singular "was" is correct.
Q2. Why is "Neither of the answers are correct" an error, and how do you fix it? [Short explanation]
- Cue. "Neither" is a singular indefinite pronoun, so it takes a singular verb: "Neither of the answers is correct." The phrase "of the answers" is a modifier and does not make the subject plural; match the verb to "neither."
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of VDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
EOC Writing (editing, style)1 marksWhich sentence is correct? (1) The box of old photographs were on the shelf. (2) The box of old photographs was on the shelf. (3) The box of old photographs are on the shelf. (4) The box of old photographs have been on the shelf.Show worked answer →
Answer: (2). Subject-verb agreement: the subject is "box" (singular), not "photographs," so it takes a singular verb, "was." The phrase "of old photographs" is a modifier between the subject and verb.
Why not the others: (1), (3), and (4) all wrongly make the verb plural to match "photographs." The trap is a prepositional phrase between subject and verb; find the true subject ("box") and match the verb to it.
EOC Writing (editing, drop-down style)1 marksChoose the correct pronoun. 'Each of the students must bring ___ own laptop.' (1) their. (2) his or her. (3) they. (4) our.Show worked answer →
Answer: (2). Pronoun-antecedent agreement: "each" is singular, so the pronoun must be singular, "his or her." The antecedent is "each," not "students."
Why not the others: (1) "their" is plural and mismatches singular "each"; (3) "they" is a subject pronoun and plural; (4) "our" does not match "each of the students." Indefinite pronouns like "each", "every", and "everyone" are singular and take singular pronouns.
Related dot points
- Verb tense, pronoun case, and modifiers: keeping verb tense consistent within a passage unless the meaning shifts, choosing subject versus object pronoun case (including who versus whom), and placing modifiers next to the words they describe to avoid misplaced and dangling modifiers, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix verb tense, pronoun case, and modifier errors on the Virginia EOC Writing test: keeping tense consistent, choosing subject versus object pronouns (and who/whom), and placing modifiers next to what they describe. Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
- Sentence boundaries, fragments, and run-ons: identifying a complete sentence (a subject and a verb expressing a complete thought), recognizing sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and comma splices, and fixing each with correct punctuation, a conjunction, or restructuring, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix sentence-boundary errors on the Virginia EOC Writing test: telling a complete sentence from a fragment, recognizing run-ons and comma splices, and fixing each with a period, semicolon, conjunction, or restructuring. Tested with multiple-choice and editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
- Punctuation: commas, apostrophes, and more: applying the high-frequency punctuation rules the EOC tests, commas in a series, after introductory elements, around nonessential phrases, and between coordinated clauses, apostrophes for possession and contractions, and end punctuation and quotation marks, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix punctuation on the Virginia EOC Writing test: commas in a series, after introductory elements, and around nonessential phrases; apostrophes for possession and contractions; and end punctuation and quotation marks. Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
- Usage and Mechanics, the second domain: earning the second Short Paper rubric domain by controlling grammar and usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling in your own writing, and proofreading systematically to catch the errors that lower the score, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to score on the Usage and Mechanics domain of the Virginia EOC Writing Short Paper: controlling grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling in your own writing, and proofreading systematically. The second of two rubric domains, scored 1 to 4.
- Roots, prefixes, and suffixes: breaking an unfamiliar word into meaningful parts, using common Greek and Latin roots, prefixes that change meaning, and suffixes that change part of speech, to reason toward a word's meaning, then confirming the meaning against the context, on the Virginia EOC Reading test.
How to use word parts on the Virginia EOC Reading test: breaking words into root, prefix, and suffix, using common Greek and Latin roots and affixes to reason toward meaning and part of speech, then confirming against the context. Tested with multiple choice and word-meaning items.
Sources & how we know this
- 2017 English Standards of Learning — VDOE (2017)
- English SOL Online Writing Resources — VDOE (2025)