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SSC CGL English · Spotting Errors

Agreement and Pronouns

A verb must agree with its true subject in number, and a pronoun must match the noun it stands for in number, person and case.

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Why this matters

Sixty-one questions in the bank, 16 from the 2023 shifts, 15 from the 2024 shifts and 30 from the 2025 shifts. The 2025 shifts hide the subject behind a long phrase or a whole clause, so the work is finding the true subject before you check the verb.

Concept 1 of 2: Finding the true subject

The verb agrees with its subject, not with the noun nearest to it. Strip away the phrase between them (of the boxes, along with his friends, though peaceful in nature) and ask whether what is left is one thing or many.

Definition

  • Phrases in between do not count: "One of these boxes has", "The quality of the mangoes is".
  • And: two subjects joined by and take a plural verb.
  • With, along with, as well as, together with: the verb follows the first subject.
  • Either ... or, neither ... nor, not only ... but also: the verb follows the nearer subject.
  • Each, every, neither of, one of: a singular verb.
  • A clause as the subject ("That the plan failed", "What he said", "All that is needed") takes a singular verb.
  • One of those who: the verb after who is plural, since who means those.
  • Always plural: police, people, cattle. Uncountable, so singular: information, advice, news.

Worked example

Find the part with the error: (a) The list of items (b) on the shelves (c) are kept near the door. (d) No error
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps

The same idea in a real exam question:

SSC CGL · 2025 · Tier I, 22 Sep 2025, Shift 1 · Q91Easy

Example 1 · Spotting Errors · Agreement and Pronouns

Find the part of the sentence that contains an error: Neither the manager nor the employees (1)/ has submitted (2)/ their performance logs (3)/ for the current quarter. (4)/

Agreeing with the nearest noun

In "The quality of the mangoes ___ poor", mangoes sits next to the verb but the subject is quality, so the verb is "is".

Treating 'as well as' like 'and'

"The captain as well as the players was praised": as well as adds to the first subject without making it plural, so the verb follows the captain.
Drill 47 more on finding the true subject

Concept 2 of 2: Pronouns that match

A pronoun must match the noun it stands for: a singular noun takes its or his or her, a plural takes their. It must also take the right case (she as a subject, her as an object), and who is for people, which for things.

Definition

  • Number: "The bank changed its rules"; "Every girl brought her lunch".
  • Case: subject forms I, he, she, we, they; object forms me, him, her, us, them: "because he was tired", "between you and me".
  • Who and which: who for people, which for things.
  • Its and it's: its is the possessive; it's means it is.
  • Reflexives (myself, themselves) point back to the subject and cannot be the subject; enjoy needs one when it has no other object: "They enjoyed themselves".
  • Each other and one another: by the rule SSC follows, each other is for two people, one another for more than two.

Worked example

Find the part with the error: (a) Every girl in the class (b) brought their own lunch (c) to the picnic. (d) No error
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps

The same idea in a real exam question:

SSC CGL · 2023 · Tier I, 18 Jul 2023, Shift 4 · Q85Moderate

Example 2 · Spotting Errors · Agreement and Pronouns

Select the most appropriate option that can substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. If there is no need to substitute it, select ‘No substitution’. The company decided to sell their stake in their subsidiary because it was under massive debts.

Its with an apostrophe

"It's" always means "it is" or "it has". The possessive, as in "its colour", never takes an apostrophe.

A reflexive as the subject

"Myself and Ravi will attend" is wrong; the subject form is needed: "Ravi and I will attend".
Drill 12 more on pronouns that match

Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance

A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.

Watch out for (4)

Test yourself on Spotting Errors

20 past SSC CGL questions from this chapter, timed at 12 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.

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