Build a Sentence — subjects, articles and clause order · Construire une phrase — les erreurs qu'un locuteur chinois fait le plus souvent
A list of names still has one main noun
- Compare · Comparer The list of students is ready with The students are ready. The noun closest to the verb does not always control agreement; identify what the sentence makes its claim about.
- Build a Sentence asks you to arrange given words or phrases. The examples here teach the grammar behind that action, so you can explain an order instead of finding it by lucky shuffling.
A list can contain thirty students and still insist on “is”.
Find the subject and finite verb first
- In The list / of students / is ready, list is the subject's head noun and is is the finite verb. Of students describes the list; it does not turn it into a plural subject.
- Build that core, then attach details. In The students who arrived early are waiting, students controls are; the relative clause explains which students.
- Cards: the list of applicants / has / changed / since Monday. Intended sentence: The list of applicants has changed since Monday. List takes has; since Monday connects a past starting point to the present.
- Changing has to · à have would make it agree with the wrong noun. Dropping has would leave changed without the intended present-perfect structure.
In a present-time description: The list of participants ___ on my desk.
The subject is 'the list', not 'participants'. English agrees with the subject, not with the nearest noun — a favourite trap.
Choose articles by reference and countability
- A singular countable noun often needs a determiner: a room, the room, our room. A/an introduces one member of a class; the points to something identifiable in context, even on a first mention.
- Information and · et advice · conseil are normally uncountable: some information, a piece of advice. They can be specific: the information in your email. Do not add a or a plural ending mechanically.
Which is correct?
'Advice' is uncountable: no 'a', no plural. The same goes for information, equipment, research and homework.
Keep a verb with the words it needs
- Learn depend on, apply for and · et participate in as combinations. Other verbs take their object directly: discuss the problem. The meaning of the whole phrase decides its construction.
- Time words help, but tense expresses a relationship: She said yesterday that the lab is open today can report a past statement about a current fact.
Complete: 'The result depends ___ the temperature.'
'Depend on' is one item. Learn the verb and its preposition together, the way you learn a single word.
Put the outer question around the inner statement
- Direct question: When does the workshop begin? Embedded question: Could you tell me when the workshop begins? The outer frame is a question; the inner clause keeps subject–verb order.
- A dependent opening needs a main clause: Although the room was closed, the return box was available. Standard English does not add a second but to that same clause pair.
- Do not let a nearby plural or a question mark decide every clause's structure. Find the clause boundary and the noun each verb belongs to.
- Cards may already contain an article or preposition. Use every given piece in the intended grammatical structure rather than adding your own words.
'Although it was raining, but we went out' is correct English.
In this standard construction, although introduces the dependent contrast clause and the main clause does not add but. Choose one frame for this contrast.
Read the whole sentence as a message
- Check the core first: who or what, and which finite verb? Then check articles, verb combinations and the order inside dependent clauses.
- Read back for meaning and timeline. Correct grammar must still express a sensible message using the supplied pieces.
Task description checked on 2 October 2026: ETS Writing. All grammar cases are original teaching examples.
Use the main noun to check agreement
- In “The list of applicants has changed”, applicants is plural but list is singular. The main noun controls has; of applicants describes the list.
- Compare “The applicants have changed their plans”. Now applicants is the main subject. Read the full clause instead of choosing a verb from the nearest noun alone.
- The same word can play different roles across sentences. A useful check identifies the structure; it is not a rule to choose singular verbs whenever a list is mentioned.
- Find each clause’s subject and verb, then attach the details and check the meaning.
- Try the transfer checks below before returning to the explanation. These are original self-checks, with no official score conversion.
Match the three distinctions from the worked case.
Compare “The applicants have changed their plans”. Now applicants is the main subject. Read the full clause instead of choosing a verb from the nearest noun alone.
In “The list of applicants has changed”, which word controls has?
In “The list of applicants has changed”, applicants is plural but list is singular. The main noun controls has; of applicants describes the list. Compare “The applicants have changed their plans”. Now applicants is the main subject. Read the full clause instead of choosing a verb from the nearest noun alone.
Complete the worked-case label: The list of applicants → ____. Use the phrase in the diagram.
Find each clause’s subject and verb, then attach the details and check the meaning.