ACT English: Grammar — Subject-Verb Agreement, Pronouns and Verb Tense

TL;DR

Mastering ACT English grammar means making sure your subjects and verbs match, your pronouns are clear and consistent, and your verbs maintain a logical timeline. These three areas are super common on the test and are often intertwined. Getting these right will significantly boost your score.

1. The Mental Model

Think of sentences as a team. The subject, verb, and pronoun all need to be on the same page, working together. If one is singular, the others should generally follow suit; if one is in the past, the others should reflect that context.

2. The Core Material

Grammar questions on the ACT often test your ability to spot inconsistencies in how words relate to each other in a sentence. We'll focus on three big ones: Subject-Verb Agreement, Pronouns, and Verb Tense.

Subject-Verb Agreement

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This is all about making sure a singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb. The trick is often finding the actual subject, especially when there are phrases between it and the verb.

• Singular Subject takes a singular verb (usually ends in 's' in the present tense): The dog runs fast.
• Plural Subject takes a plural verb (doesn't end in 's' in the present tense): The dogs run fast.
• Watch out for prepositional phrases: The subject is never in a prepositional phrase.
  • Incorrect: The list of ingredients are long. (Subject is "list," not "ingredients.")
  • Correct: The list of ingredients is long.
• Compound subjects joined by "and" are usually plural: John and Mary are going.
• Compound subjects joined by "or" or "nor" agree with the closer subject: Neither the students nor the teacher is ready.

Pronouns

Pronouns replace nouns, and they need to agree with the noun they're replacing (the antecedent) in number (singular/plural) and gender (if applicable). They also need to be clear and have the correct case (subjective, objective, possessive).

• Agreement: If the antecedent is singular, the pronoun should be singular.
  • Incorrect: Each student should bring their own book. (Student is singular, "their" is plural.)
  • Correct: Each student should bring his or her own book. (Or rephrase: All students* should bring their* own books.)
• Clarity: Make sure it's obvious what noun a pronoun refers to. If it's ambiguous, rephrase.
  • Ambiguous: When John told Mark the news, he was upset. (Who was upset, John or Mark?)
  • Clear: When John told Mark the news, John was upset. (Or: When John told Mark the news, Mark was upset.)
• Case:
  • Subjective (doer of the action): I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who
  • Objective (receiver of the action): me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom
  • Possessive: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs, whose
  • Tip: If you can remove the other person and the sentence still makes sense, you've used the right case. Try saying it with just the pronoun.
    • Incorrect: The prize went to him and I. (Would you say "The prize went to I"?)
    • Correct: The prize went to him and me. (You'd say "The prize went to me.")

Verb Tense

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Verbs need to show time consistently within a sentence or paragraph, unless there's a good reason to shift. Look for keywords that indicate time (e.g., last year, tomorrow, currently).

• Consistency is Key: If a sentence starts in the past tense, it generally stays in the past unless a clear time shift is indicated.
  • Incorrect: She walked to the store and buys some milk.
  • Correct: She walked to the store and bought some milk.
• Logical Shifts: Sometimes, a shift is necessary to show a different point in time.
  • Yesterday, I studied for the test, and now I feel prepared. (Past to present is logical.)

Here's a quick look at how these topics relate:

graph TD
    A["Sentence Structure Issue?"] --> B{Does the verb agree with the subject?};
    B -- Yes --> C{Is the pronoun clear and consistent?};
    B -- No --> D["Fix Subject-Verb Agreement"];
    C -- Yes --> E{Is the verb tense logical and consistent?};
    C -- No --> F["Fix Pronoun Issues (Agreement, Clarity, Case)"];
    E -- Yes --> G["Sentence is Correct!"];
    E -- No --> H["Fix Verb Tense Inconsistencies"];
    D --> G;
    F --> G;
    H --> G;

3. Worked Example

Let's look at a typical ACT sentence and fix any issues:

Original Sentence: "The team, despite their recent losses, was confident that they could overcome the challenges that lie ahead; everyone believed that they have the ability to win."

Let's break this down:

1. "The team, despite their recent losses, was confident..."

   • Subject-Verb Agreement: "The team" is singular. "was" is a singular verb. So far so good.
   • Pronoun: "The team" is a singular collective noun. "their" is a plural possessive pronoun. This is a mismatch. "Team" should ideally be referred to by a singular pronoun (it/its). However, in common usage, "their" is often used for collective nouns when the members are acting individually. The ACT often considers collective nouns as singular unless the context strongly implies individual actions. Let's assume for ACT purposes, "team" acts as a single unit here. So, "their" should be "its."
   • Correction: "The team, despite its recent losses, was confident..."

2. "...that they could overcome the challenges that lie ahead..."

   • Pronoun: "they" refers back to "The team." Again, if "team" is singular, "they" should be singular ("it").
   • Correction: "...that it could overcome the challenges that lie ahead..."

3. "...everyone believed that they have the ability to win."

   • Subject-Verb Agreement/Pronoun: "everyone" is a singular indefinite pronoun. "they" is plural. This is a clear mismatch. "everyone" should be followed by a singular pronoun ("he or she" or "he" or "she" depending on context, or often rephrased).
   • Verb Tense: "believed" is past tense. "have" is present tense. This is an inconsistent tense shift. It should be "had" to match "believed."
   • Correction: "...everyone believed that he or she had the ability to win." (Or, to avoid awkwardness, often rephrased: "everyone believed in his or her ability to win.")

Revised Sentence: "The team, despite its recent losses, was confident that it could overcome the challenges that lay ahead; everyone believed in his or her ability to win." (Note: "lay" for "lie" is another common fix, but not one of our focus topics here.)

4. Key Takeaways

• Always identify the true subject of a sentence before checking verb agreement.
• Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number and be clearly referential.
• Maintain consistent verb tense throughout a sentence or paragraph unless a clear time shift is intended.
• "Each," "every," and indefinite pronouns (e.g., anyone, everyone, no one, somebody) are always singular.
• Collective nouns (e.g., team, committee, audience) are usually singular on the ACT.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

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• Don't let prepositional phrases distract you from the real subject.
• Using "their" or "they" with singular antecedents like "each student" or "everyone."
• Shifting verb tenses unnecessarily within the same narrative timeline.
• Confusing subjective ("who") and objective ("whom") pronoun cases.

5. Now Try It

Find an ACT English practice passage (you can find many free ones online). Go through one paragraph, specifically looking for errors in subject-verb agreement, pronoun usage (agreement, clarity, case), and verb tense consistency. For each error you find, identify the original word(s), state the rule it breaks, and write down the correct word(s). What success looks like: You should be able to identify at least 3-5 specific errors in a typical 10-15 line paragraph and explain why each is wrong.