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Subject-Verb Agreement

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Nouns, verbs, and pronouns often have special forms or endings that indicate number--that is, whether the word is singular or plural. A verb must agree in number with the noun or pronoun that is its subject

example:

An audience thousands of expectant people who have come from afar to listen to live music in an outdoor setting 17. seem terrifying to a nervous performer.

17. A. NO CHANGE
B. seems
C. have seemed
D. to seem


To solve this problem, cross out the junk in the middle that separates the subject, “an audience,” from the verb “seem.” Remember that the subject of a sentence can never be part of a phrase that begins with “of.” You’re left with:

An audience seem terrifying to a nervous performer.

Now you can see what the verb should be:

An audience seems terrifying to a nervous performer.