Grammar S2 2 & 3 & 4 2024-2025 Flashcards
What is a subject?
A subject of the sentence is the noun that corresponds with the verb in the sentence
What is a verb?
The action being done by the noun
What is subject verb agreement?
A rule that states all subjects must agree with their verbs in number
In present and present perfect verb tenses, do third person singular verb forms or third person plural verb forms end in an “s”
Third person singular verb forms
Prepositional phrases
Starts with a preposition, subject cannot be contained within a prepositional phrase
Strategy for prepositional phrases
Cross out the prepositional phrase
Identify the subject and determine if it is singular or plural
Determine if there’s an error in subject verb agreement
Non essential clauses
Surrounded by commas/dashes/parentheses, the subject verb agreement error can be contained within the clause itself, starts with a relative pronoun
Relative pronouns
Which, who, whose, where
Appositives
Does not have a verb, can be removed without changing the meaning or creating a grammatical error
Essential clauses with “that”
Will involve a clause beginning with “that” and will end right before the verb
Trap #2: Subject comes after the verb
Remember that the subject is the noun that’s doing the action, sometimes there is no prepositional phrase
Trap #3: Compound Subjects
Compound subject is a subject in which two singular nouns are connected by “and,” in a sentence with a compound subject, you should use the plural form of the verb
What is a pronoun?
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Any word that replaces a noun is a pronoun
What is an antecedent?
An antecedent is the noun a pronoun replaces
What is pronoun antecedent agreement?
A pronoun must always match its antecedent
What are the most common pronouns and their correct uses?
I/me/my – first person singular
we/us/ours – first person plural
you/your – second person (singular and plural)
he/him/his – third person masculine
she/her/hers – third person feminine
it/its – third person singular neutral
they/them/their – third person plural (they/them/their is also used in everyday speech as third person singular but whether “they” should or shouldn’t be singular for individual people is not a usage the ACT will test you on)
What does it mean for a pronoun and antecedent to match?
For a pronoun and an antecedent to match, they need to agree in number and person
Pronoun disagreement in number
Need to check if the antecedent is singular and plural and if that is the case, the pronoun must match with a singular or plural counterpart
Pronoun disagreement in person
A pronoun must reflect the type of thing it’s replacing, also, if you start a sentence in first person, you should not suddenly switch to the third person without a clear reason
What is the rule for “one” and “you”
A passage should only stick to one or the other
Unclear antecedents
Important to remember that a pronoun’s antecedent must be a noun and you must be able to circle it in the text, if this is not the case, you need to choose the answer that makes explicit what the pronoun is meant to refer to
Where will the noun be relative to this, that, these, and those
Immediately after these pronouns
Pronoun agreement rules
Every pronoun must have a clear noun antecedent, pronouns and their antecedents have to match in number, gender, and person
For which pronouns can the antecedent come immediately after the pronoun?
This, those, that, and these
