Subject-Verb Agreement with Intervening Clauses Quiz with Answer Key

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🍎 Basic Agreement: A singular subject needs a singular verb, and a plural subject needs a plural verb.
• 🧩 Intervening Clauses: These are phrases or clauses that come between the subject and the verb. They don't affect the verb's agreement with the subject. Common examples include prepositional phrases (e.g., *of the students*) and relative clauses (e.g., *who is here*).
• ✂️ Identifying the Subject: To find the correct verb form, ignore the intervening clause and focus on the main subject.
• 💡 Example: *The box of chocolates (is/are) delicious.* The subject is *box* (singular), so the correct verb is *is*.
• ✍️ Prepositional Phrases: Phrases starting with prepositions like *of, in, with, from, on, at, to,* etc. are usually intervening clauses.
• 🙋 Relative Clauses: Clauses starting with *who, which, that* are also usually intervening clauses.

🧪 Practice Quiz

1. Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?
   1. The leader of the expeditions are always well-prepared.
   2. The leader of the expeditions is always well-prepared.
   3. The leaders of the expedition is always well-prepared.
   4. The leader of the expedition always prepare well.
2. The books borrowed from the library ____ on the table.
   1. was
   2. were
   3. is
   4. are being
3. The student, along with her classmates, ____ the museum.
   1. visit
   2. visits
   3. are visiting
   4. were visiting
4. My dog, who loves to chase squirrels, ____ barking loudly.
   1. are
   2. is
   3. were
   4. be
5. The quality of the apples ____ poor this year.
   1. were
   2. are
   3. is
   4. be
6. The CEO, surrounded by bodyguards, ____ to the press conference.
   1. walk
   2. walks
   3. are walking
   4. were walking
7. The colors in the painting ____ vibrant and striking.
   1. is
   2. are
   3. was
   4. be