SAT Prep | Disagreement Errors
The following mini-review is not exhaustive, but it does cover the major kinds of errors likely to appear on the Writing exam. We'll start with Disagreement Errors. Disagreement Errors—Noun-Verb
Each of the following sentences illustrates a classic way in which noun-verb disagreement manages to slip past our “grammar radar.”
| 1. Attendance at | poetry festivals | over the past few years | have | increased dramatically as a | result of |
| A | B | C |
| poetry clubs and | writers' | workshops. |
| D |
| 2. There | is, | when you consider the issue, several reasons | for supporting | the current legislation now |
| A | B |
| before | the | Appropriations Committee. |
| C | D |
| 3. In the | depths | of the woods | live | a species of bird that | hasn't | been thoroughly studied | by | wild- |
| A | B | C | D |
| life experts. |
1. B
The subject of the sentence is “attendance,” which is singular. The main verb should be “has,” not “have.” Because the plural nouns “festivals” and “years” come between the subject and the verb, the writer failed to hear the disagreement.
2. A
The subject of a clause beginning with “There is” or “There are” comes after the verb. The subject of sentence 2 is “reasons,” a plural noun, so the main verb should be “are,” not “is.”
3. B
Atypical word order can occur in contexts other than the one mentioned above. The subject of sentence 3 is “ species,” a singular noun. Therefore the verb should be “lives,” not “live.” Plural “woods” and “depths,” which occur in prepositional phrases, probably encouraged the writer to use the plural verb form.
Disagreement Errors—Noun-Pronoun
Disagreement can also occur between nouns and pronouns:
| 4. Both the geography book I used | as | a high school student and | the one | I used as a college student |
| A | B |
| have | the same vivid photograph of Mount Everest on | its cover. |
| C | D |
| 5. In | today's | competitive world, even a student | who | earns high grades and top test scores may | have |
| A | B | C |
| a tough time getting into the college of | their | choice. |
| D |
Answers
4. D
The subject of sentence 4 is a compound noun—in other words, it’s plural. Consequently, the same photograph appears on two separate “covers.” Choice D should be “their covers.”
5. D
“Student” in sentence 5 is, of course, singular. But because the gender of student is not specified, the writer mistakenly uses the gender-free plural possessive pronoun “their.”
