Subject-Verb Agreement
The swarm of bees (is/are) heading toward the hive.
What is is? Collective nouns are singular.
She is a better writer than (I/me).
What is I? Short for "than I am."
The (dog's/dogs') collars were too small. (multiple dogs)
What are dogs'?
The dog lost (its/it's) collar in the woods.
What is its?
I need to buy: eggs, milk, and bread. Fix the error.
What is remove the colon? Colons shouldn't follow a verb.
Neither the cookies nor the cake (look/looks) appetizing.
What is looks? Verb agrees with the closer subject.
To (who/whom) should I address this letter?
What is whom? Objective case after a preposition.
I have three (brother-in-laws/brothers-in-law).
What is brothers-in-law?
You (should've/should of) seen his face!
What is should've?
He was late (punctuation) consequently, he missed the intro.
What is a semicolon? Used before conjunctive adverbs.
Every one of the students (has/have) submitted the essay.
What is has? "Every one" is a singular subject.
Each girl must bring (her/their) own laptop.
What is her? Singular antecedent requires singular pronoun.
The (sheep's/sheeps') fleece needed to be sheared. (multiple sheep)
What are sheep's? Possessive plural rule-breaker.
I received straight (A's/As) on my report card.
What is A's? Apostrophes are used to pluralize single capital letters for clarity.
My sister (punctuation) a doctor (punctuation) lives in Seattle.
What are dashes? Used for abrupt interruptions or emphasis.
There (is/are) a list of chores and a schedule on the fridge.
What is are? Compound subjects joined by "and" are plural.
(Whoever/Whomever) the board elects will serve a two-year term.
What is Whomever? It is the object of the verb "elects."
This is (Charles's/Charles') book.
What is Charles's or Charles'? The first version is most used in MLA writing, but the second is also considered correct.
Those books are (ours/our's).
What is ours? Possessive pronouns never take apostrophes.
"I'm tired," she said (.,) "but I'll finish."
What is a comma?
"The Great Gatsby," along with several other novels, (is/are) on the syllabus.
What is is? Phrases like "along with" do not change the number of the subject.
The teacher objected to (him/his) talking during the film.
What is his? Use the possessive case before a gerund.
The (Joneses/Jones's) invited us over for a BBQ.
What is Joneses? To pluralize a name ending in S, add -es.
(Who's/Whose) going to the dance tonight?
What is Who's? Contraction for "Who is."
Please bring the following to class each day (punctuation) a charged laptop, your notes, and something to write with.
What is a colon?