Sure, here are some tips and tricks for the subject-verb agreement question category on the Digital SAT:
1. **Identify the Subject First:** Before looking at the answer choices, locate the subject of the sentence. This will help you determine whether the verb should be singular or plural.
2. **Watch for Compound Subjects:** If the subject is compound (e.g., “John and Mary”), the verb must be plural. Treat compound subjects joined by “and” as a plural subject.
3. **Ignore Prepositional Phrases:** As mentioned, the subject will never be found within a prepositional phrase. Cross out prepositional phrases when identifying the subject.
4. **Beware of Intervening Phrases:** Don’t let intervening phrases between the subject and verb confuse you. Mentally remove those phrases and focus on the subject-verb relationship.
5. **Look for Collective Nouns:** Collective nouns (e.g., team, family, group) can be singular or plural, depending on the context. Determine if the collective noun is acting as a single unit or referring to individual members.
6. **Pay Attention to Indefinite Pronouns:** Indefinite pronouns like “everyone,” “nobody,” and “something” are always singular, even though they may seem plural.
7. **Consider Inverted Sentences:** In inverted sentences (e.g., “Here are the students”), the subject follows the verb, so be careful not to mistake the verb for the subject.
8. **Practice with Different Sentence Structures:** Subject-verb agreement questions can appear in various sentence structures, including complex sentences and those with modifying phrases or clauses. Practice identifying the subject and verb in different contexts.
9. **Eliminate Obvious Errors:** If you can quickly identify an answer choice with a blatant subject-verb agreement error, eliminate it and focus on the remaining choices.
10. **Read the Sentence Aloud:** Sometimes, reading the sentence aloud can help you identify the subject and determine whether the verb should be singular or plural.
11. **Use Process of Elimination:** If you’re unsure, try substituting each answer choice into the sentence and eliminate those that clearly don’t agree with the subject.
12. **Practice, Practice, Practice:** The more you practice subject-verb agreement questions, the better you’ll become at identifying the subject and choosing the correct verb form.
Remember, subject-verb agreement is a fundamental grammar rule, and mastering it will not only help you on the Digital SAT but also improve your overall writing skills.