TOEIC Link Part 5: Subject-Verb Agreement When Phrases Get in the Way

Subject-verb agreement sounds like a beginner topic, and on its own it is. Almost every learner knows that a singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb. So why does TOEIC Link keep testing it, and why do strong candidates keep missing these questions?

The answer is that the test rarely puts the subject right next to the verb. Instead it inserts something between them — a prepositional phrase, a relative clause, a participial modifier — and that intervening material almost always contains a noun with the opposite number from the real subject. Your ear, trained on the nearest noun, reaches for the wrong verb. The question is not really testing whether you know the rule. It is testing whether you can find the subject.

This guide shows you how to strip any sentence down to its true subject so the verb choice becomes obvious.

Why the nearest noun is a trap

Consider this sentence:

The list of approved suppliers ( ) updated every quarter.

If you read left to right and let your ear settle on the closest noun — suppliers — you will want the plural verb are. But suppliers is not the subject. It sits inside the prepositional phrase of approved suppliers, which merely describes the list. The subject is list, singular, so the answer is is.

This is the entire mechanism behind the hard agreement questions. The test writer chooses a singular subject and follows it with a plural-noun phrase, or a plural subject followed by a singular-noun phrase. The mismatch is deliberate. Your job is to ignore the decoy and agree the verb with the head noun of the subject.

The two-step method: bracket and reduce

Under time pressure you cannot afford to analyze grammar slowly. Use a fast mechanical routine instead.

Step 1 — Bracket the modifiers. Mentally put brackets around anything that begins with a preposition (of, in, with, for, between, among, along with) or a relative pronoun (who, which, that). These structures cannot contain the subject.

Step 2 — Read what is left. The first noun standing outside your brackets is the subject. Agree the verb with that.

Applied to our example:

The list [of approved suppliers] ( ) updated every quarter.

Remove the bracket and you are left with The list … updated → is updated. Done in two seconds.

This bracket-and-reduce habit is the same disciplined reading you need for word-form questions, where the trap is also positional rather than meaning-based. If you have not drilled that pattern, pair this guide with word choice versus word form, because the two skills reinforce each other.

The four intervening structures the test loves

1. Prepositional phrases

The most common trap. The subject is followed by of / in / with / for + noun.

• The quality of the components is (not are) inspected on arrival.
• A box of replacement parts was (not were) delivered this morning.

Watch especially for of + plural noun, which pulls hard toward a plural verb.

2. "Along with / as well as / together with" phrases

These look like and, but they are not. They do not create a compound plural subject. The verb agrees only with the noun before the phrase.

• The manager, along with two assistants, is attending the conference.
• The report, as well as its appendices, was submitted on time.

If the test had written The manager and two assistants, the verb would be plural. The substitution of along with for and is exactly the distinction being tested.

3. Relative clauses

A who / which / that clause can stretch the distance between subject and verb across many words.

• The employees who attended the orientation session last Tuesday were given handbooks.

Here the relative clause who attended … Tuesday describes employees, but the main verb still agrees with employees (plural) → were. Inside the clause itself, the relative pronoun's verb agrees with its antecedent — a separate point covered in relative pronouns and clauses.

4. Participial and appositive modifiers

A descriptive phrase set off by commas, or a participle, can also separate subject from verb.

• The proposal, developed over several months by the planning team, has been approved.

Strip the comma-bounded phrase and you have The proposal … has → singular, correct.

Special cases worth memorizing

A handful of subjects do not follow the simple "head noun" rule and appear often enough to memorize outright.

• Each / every / either / neither + noun → always singular. Each of the candidates was interviewed.
• Everyone / everybody / someone / no one / nobody → singular. Everyone in the departments has been notified.
• The number of → singular; a number of → plural. The number of applicants is rising vs. A number of applicants are waiting.
• Collective nouns (team, staff, committee, management) → usually singular in American business English. The committee meets weekly.
• Quantities as a single unit → singular. Three weeks is enough time. Fifty dollars was refunded.

These exceptions are high-value because they override the instinct your bracketing builds. Once the brackets are gone, check whether the remaining subject is one of these special forms before you commit.

A worked example under exam conditions

Neither the supervisor nor the technicians ( ) able to explain the delay.

(A) was (B) were (C) is (D) being

With neither … nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject — here technicians, plural. Bracket nothing; recognize the neither/nor rule; the nearer noun is plural; the answer is (B) were. Note that this is the one structure where the closer noun governs, which is why memorizing it matters — your bracket habit would otherwise mislead you.

How to drill this efficiently

You do not need hundreds of new sentences. Take any twenty Part 5 questions you have already done and, for each, cover the verb and force yourself to (1) bracket the modifiers aloud and (2) name the subject before looking at the options. The bottleneck is never the rule; it is locating the subject fast. Ten minutes of this, three times a week, is enough to make the skill automatic.

When you can reliably find the subject in under three seconds, agreement questions stop being a source of lost points and become some of the fastest correct answers on the entire reading section. From there, fold the habit into a broader plan using a sustainable daily study routine so the gain compounds instead of fading after one session.