5 exercises — collective nouns, "the data", "a number of", indefinite pronouns, and compound subjects in IT documentation.
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1 / 5
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…"
2 / 5
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.
3 / 5
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.
4 / 5
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."
5 / 5
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.