Question of the day

<p>I really liked this new idea.. never really found it anywhere before seeing this question. a NOUN-NOUN agreement.. I thought the question was no error, but then when it says that I'm wrong i figured that the subject and verb should be pluralized. I thought I'd share this question here.
A meteorite shows an enormous variation b in size, from micron-sized dust particles filtering c slowly through the atmosphere to giants d weighing many tons. e No error
The explanation says that A meteorite shows should be meteorites show because other parts in the sentence indicate that the subject and verb should be plural, like particles and giants.</p>

<p>I didnt see that either. I got it wrong but I understand now :)</p>

<p>There is usually one of these on every test. If you feel all of the underlined words and phrases are error-free, always check noun agreement before selecting “No Error.” Note that the two nouns in disagreement (meteorite and giants) are far apart in the sentence. That’s a common trick.</p>

<p>This isn’t “noun-noun agreement” or “noun agreement”; there’s no such term. There’s a problem with “A meteorite shows an enormous variation in size” from the get-go (because the sentence means to say that meteorites are different from each other); you don’t need “particles” or “giants” to tell you that.</p>

<p>CORRECT: Apples vary in color; some apples are green, and some apples are red.
INCORRECT: An apple varies in color. (This would imply that a single apple changes color.)</p>

<p>got it right!</p>

<p>crazybandit, in the world of SAT prep, we all give names to concepts for easy recognition.</p>

<p>I agree with your analysis. But for most students, it’s much easier to understand that the nouns do not match in plurality. This is also extremely easy to check before selecting “no error.”</p>

<p>No, for most students, it’s easier to understand the difference between “Apples have different colors” and “An apple has different colors” than to commit to memory some arbitrary phrase like “noun agreement.”</p>