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Number agreement on the GMAT refers to the concept that items in a sentence need to match each other in number. Singular items need to be referred to as singular items, and plural items need to be referred to as plural items. This shows up mainly in two forms: Subject-Verb Agreement, and Pronoun Reference.

Take note! These are easy points to get on the ACT. Don't let the ACT trick you!

Subject-Verb Agreement

The number of the subject and the verb must agree with each other. Singular objects must be paired with singular verbs. Plural objects must be paired with plural verbs.

Here’s an example:

The bee likes collecting honey. (Singular)

The bees like collecting honey. (Plural)

Nouns linked together with a conjunction are also considered plural:

The professor and his student are being awarded the Nobel prize.

This also applies to verbs when used as nouns:

Harvesting mushrooms is the specialty of the truffle pig.

Harvesting mushrooms and enjoying life are specialties of the truffle pig.

Pronoun

Pronouns like “he” or “she” are clearly singular, while “they” is plural.

There are a few pronouns that are tricky. The following pronouns are all singular. Here are a few examples to keep in mind.

Each: “Each of the tennis players is playing well.”

Either: “Either book is acceptable.”

Neither: “Neither dog wants to play with me.”

Someone/Somebody: “Someone is knocking at the door.”

Anyone: “Anyone who wants to go, raise your hand.”

Everything: “Everything in the store is on sale.”

Everybody: “We can start when everybody has arrived.”

Nobody: “I invited fifteen people but nobody is coming.”

When you’re in doubt about a pronoun’s number, just think about its use in a common sentence.

Subject-Verb Agreement: Inverted Sentences

One of the ways that the GMAT tries to trick you on Number Agreement is by inverting the sentence. In your typical sentence, the verb comes after the subject:

The cat played with the ball.

But in an inverted sentence, the subject comes after the verb:

In the king’s castle is numerous exotic foods from around the world.

This can be confusing because if you read the sentence quickly without thinking too much, you can easily get confused by reading “castle is” as the sentence core. The problem is that “castle” isn’t the subject – “foods” is the subject.

Here’s a strategy when you run across inverted sentence. First, identify the subject. Secondly, flip the sentence so that the verb comes after the subject:

Numerous exotic foods around the world is in the king’s castle.

Here, the relationship between the subject “foods” and the verb “is” becomes much more obvious. Of course, “foods” is plural and “is” is singular, so we need to change the verb to “are.”

Pronoun Reference

Other than Subject-Verb Agreement, the other major type of Number Agreement error is the Pronoun Reference error. This means that the pronoun must agree with the antecedent (what it’s referring to) in number. For example,

The professor and his student both framed their Nobel prizes.

Because “the professor and his student” is plural, the pronoun “their” must also be plural. On the other hand, this would be incorrect:

The professor and his student framed his Nobel prizes.

Remember the singular pronouns above? They’re singular in reference as well. For example:

Everybody who has his own book can leave the library.

“His” refers to “everybody,” and both are singular.

Sample Questions

Given this example sentence, find the error in Number Agreement:

With the flock of lions run the insane nature lover, ever intent to catalogue the beauty of nature.

Don’t read on until you’ve given this an honest effort!

Ready?

This is an inverted sentence. The subject is “lover” but it follows the verb “run.” So let’s flip the sentence:

The insane nature lover run with the flock of lions.

When you flip the sentence, it becomes obvious that the singular “lover” and the plural verb “run” don’t agree. So to correct the sentence, you would need to use “runs”

Ready for the next question? Find the error in this sentence:

Despite his best efforts to research the industry and make useful trades, John can only watch helplessly as many of his stocks loses value.

Don’t read on until you’ve given this an honest effort!

Ready?

The error is near the end of the sentence, hidden in the prepositional phrase, “as many of his stocks loses value.” “Many” is a plural noun, and so the singular verb “loses” is incorrect.

In summary,

• for Subject-Verb Agreement, identify the Subject and the Verb. If the sentence is inverted, then flip the sentence back!
• for Pronoun Reference, make sure the pronoun and what it’s referencing agree in number

Good luck on your practice questions!