5 exercises — collective nouns, "the data", "a number of", indefinite pronouns, and compound subjects in IT documentation.
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Which sentence uses subject-verb agreement correctly in a technical context?
In American English (dominant in global tech), collective nouns like team, committee, management, staff take a singular verb: "The team is working", "The team has decided", "The team was notified." British English allows plural ("the team are"), but US tech style guides (Google, Microsoft) consistently use singular. In international tech environments, singular is the safer and more consistent choice. "The team were" is past plural (British). "The team have working" is grammatically broken. Standard pattern for agile teams: "The team is responsible for…", "The team decides how to…", "The team has ownership of…"
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Which sentence is grammatically correct? (Choose the right form for "data.")
"Data" is technically the plural of "datum" and traditionally takes a plural verb: "The data are consistent", "The data show…", "These data suggest…" This usage is standard in scientific and technical writing, academic papers, and formal documentation. In informal and everyday tech speech, "data is" has become common and is accepted in many style guides. However, in technical reports, research documentation, and formal specifications, "the data are" is the formally correct choice. "Datas" does not exist — data is already plural. Option B has an error ("environment" instead of "environments"). Option C has both a correct verb and a noun error.
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An incident report reads: "A number of errors _____ detected during the load test." Which verb form is correct?
"A number of" takes a plural verb: "A number of errors were detected", "A number of services have been restarted", "A number of tickets remain open." This is a fixed rule: "a number of + plural noun + plural verb." Do not confuse it with "the number of", which takes a singular verb: "The number of errors was significant", "The number of open issues has increased." Mnemonic: a number = many → plural; the number = one specific count → singular. In incident reports and test result summaries, this distinction appears frequently.
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Which sentence correctly handles agreement with an indefinite pronoun?
Indefinite pronouns — everyone, someone, anyone, nobody, each, either, neither — always take a singular verb regardless of what follows. "Everyone has access", "Someone has modified the config", "Nobody is available", "Each service is independently deployable." This is one of the most common agreement errors in tech writing. The prepositional phrase "on the DevOps team" does not affect the verb — the subject is still "everyone." Options A, C, and D all incorrectly use plural verbs with the singular indefinite pronoun "everyone."
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A system spec reads: "The API gateway and the load balancer _____ configured as a single deployable unit." Which verb is correct?
When two subjects are joined by "and", the compound subject is plural and takes a plural verb: "The API gateway and the load balancer are configured as a unit", "The database and the cache are co-located", "The frontend and the backend are deployed separately." This rule applies even when each individual component would take a singular verb. Exception: when "and" joins two subjects that form a single concept or unit, singular is used — "bread and butter is my preference" — but this is rare in technical writing. Compound technical subjects with "and" consistently take plural verbs in spec documents and architecture descriptions.
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During a code review of the new authentication service, Alice comments: 'The server is currently processing 20 requests per second. It needs to scale.' Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement in this context?
Subject-verb agreement dictates that a singular subject (the server) requires a singular verb form (is), while a plural subject would necessitate a plural verb (are). The sentence incorrectly uses 'are' with the singular 'server'. The core issue is the incorrect pairing of the subject and its corresponding verb, a common mistake for non-native speakers focusing on technical accuracy.
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You're drafting a PR description for a change that updates the user profile API. The description reads: 'The service now accepts a new field: user_metadata. This metadata is stored securely.' Which verb form correctly agrees with 'metadata'?
'Metadata' in this case acts as a singular noun referring to the data itself. Therefore, the correct verb form is 'store,' which agrees with the singular subject 'metadata.' Incorrectly using 'stores' would imply that multiple instances of metadata are being stored, leading to confusion and an incorrect technical description.
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During a standup update, Carlos states: 'The team is currently investigating issues with the new deployment pipeline. The pipeline itself needs to be updated.' Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?
Subject-verb agreement requires the verb 'is' to agree with the singular subject 'team.' Using 'are' would incorrectly imply plurality. The phrase 'itself' correctly refers back to the previously mentioned subject – the pipeline – and maintains agreement. This highlights a common error of assuming all phrases are plural.
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In a code review comment, David writes: 'The microservice's API endpoint now handles POST requests for new user accounts. This process is automated.' Which sentence uses correct subject-verb agreement?
Similar to previous examples, 'endpoint' is a singular subject. Therefore, the verb must be 'handles'. Using 'are' incorrectly implies plurality. The sentence accurately describes a single endpoint's functionality, demonstrating accurate technical writing – crucial for clear communication within a development team.
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During a code review of the new authentication service, Alice comments: 'The server is currently processing 20 requests per second. It needs to scale.' Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement in this context?
Subject-verb agreement dictates that a singular subject (the server) requires a singular verb form (is), while a plural subject would necessitate a plural verb (are). The sentence incorrectly uses 'are' with the singular 'server'. The core issue is the incorrect pairing of the subject and its corresponding verb, a common mistake for non-native speakers focusing on technical accuracy.
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You're drafting a PR description for a change that updates the user profile API. The description reads: 'The service now accepts a new field: user_metadata. This metadata is stored securely.' Which verb form correctly agrees with 'metadata'?
'Metadata' in this case acts as a singular noun referring to the data itself. Therefore, the correct verb form is 'store,' which agrees with the singular subject 'metadata.' Incorrectly using 'stores' would imply that multiple instances of metadata are being stored, leading to confusion and an incorrect technical description.
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During a standup update, Carlos states: 'The team is currently investigating issues with the new deployment pipeline. The pipeline itself needs to be updated.' Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?
Subject-verb agreement requires the verb 'is' to agree with the singular subject 'team.' Using 'are' would incorrectly imply plurality. The phrase 'itself' correctly refers back to the previously mentioned subject – the pipeline – and maintains agreement. This highlights a common error of assuming all phrases are plural.
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In a code review comment, David writes: 'The microservice's API endpoint now handles POST requests for new user accounts. This process is automated.' Which sentence uses correct subject-verb agreement?
Similar to previous examples, 'endpoint' is a singular subject. Therefore, the verb must be 'handles'. Using 'are' incorrectly implies plurality. The sentence accurately describes a single endpoint's functionality, demonstrating accurate technical writing – crucial for clear communication within a development team.
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Sarah is reviewing a Slack message from the team lead: 'The database migration script has been deployed to staging. It's currently running automated tests.' Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement in this context?
This question focuses on subject-verb agreement with a compound subject ('The database migration script' and 'it'). The common mistake is to incorrectly use 'is' when the subject is plural. The correct form requires 'it's' to match the singular subject 'script'. Using 'they're' creates an incorrect collective noun construction.
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A PR description reads: 'The new feature integrates with the third-party payment gateway. This integration ensures secure transactions.' Which verb form is correct to complete the sentence?
Here, we're assessing agreement with 'integration'. 'Integration' is a singular noun referring to the process. Therefore, it requires the singular verb form 'ensures'. Using 'this' as the subject creates an unnecessary and grammatically incorrect construction.
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During a standup, Mark states: 'We've addressed the performance bottleneck in the API server. The team is now focused on improving response times.' Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?
This tests agreement with 'team'. The team is a collective noun acting as a single unit. Therefore, it takes a plural verb form ('is'). Using 'we've addressed' creates a confusing and inaccurate representation of the action.
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A code review comment reads: 'The application's logging module now records all user actions. This data is crucial for debugging.' Which verb form correctly agrees with the subject?
The subject of this sentence is 'data,' which is an uncountable noun. Therefore, it takes a singular verb form ('is'). Using 'are' or 'were' creates a grammatical error by attempting to quantify something that cannot be counted.
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A system specification reads: 'The microservice's authentication process validates user credentials. The service then generates a secure token.' Which verb form is correct to complete the sentence?
This question checks agreement with 'service'. 'Service' is a singular noun. The correct verb form is 'generates'. Using 'generating' creates an incorrect tense and doesn't align with the sentence's intended meaning.
What will I practise in "Subject-Verb Agreement in Technical Writing — Grammar Exercise"?
Practise subject-verb agreement for IT writing — collective nouns, data, quantifiers, indefinite pronouns, compound subjects. 5 exercises.
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 18 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.