Concord in WASSCE English: rules and practice questions
Concord means agreement: the verb must agree with its subject. One person or thing takes a singular verb (is, has, goes). Two or more take a plural verb (are, have, go). Below are the rules WASSCE tests most and 10 practice questions with answers.
How to answer it
These words point at one thing at a time, so the verb is singular.Each of the girls HAS a phone.
The verb agrees with the noun closest to it.Neither the driver nor the passengers WERE hurt.
Phrases like "together with", "as well as" and "of the boys" do not change the subject.The principal, as well as the teachers, IS at the meeting. One of my friends LIVES in Kenema.
"The number of" is one number, so it is singular. "A number of" means many, so it is plural.The number of cars in Freetown IS rising. A number of pupils ARE absent today.
News, Mathematics and furniture take a singular verb. Trousers, scissors and police take a plural verb.The news on the radio WAS sad. These scissors ARE sharp.
10 practice questions
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
Neither of the two girls ready for the test.
See the answer
Answer: C. is
“Neither of” means not one of the two, so it takes a singular verb: “is”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
The news from the football match very good.
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Answer: B. was
“News” looks plural, but it is always singular, so we say “was”, not “were”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
The police looking for the lost child in Kissy.
See the answer
Answer: A. are
“Police” always takes a plural verb, so we say “the police are”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
My trousers torn, so I cannot wear them to church.
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Answer: D. are
“Trousers” is a plural word, like “scissors”, so it takes “are”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
A number of traders at the market complaining about the rain.
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Answer: D. are
“A number of” means many, so it takes a plural verb: “are”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
Either the girls or their mother the cooking on Sundays.
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Answer: B. does
With “either...or”, the verb agrees with the nearer noun. “Mother” is one person, so “does”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
Neither Abu nor his sisters at home when we called.
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Answer: D. were
With “neither...nor”, the verb agrees with the nearer noun. “Sisters” is plural, so “were”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
The teacher, together with his pupils, planting trees today.
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Answer: C. is
The subject is “the teacher”. Words after “together with” do not change the verb, so “is”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
Either of these two roads to Bo.
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Answer: A. leads
“Either of” means one of the two, so it takes a singular verb: “leads”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
Many a student failed that test because of careless mistakes.
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Answer: C. has
“Many a” is followed by a singular noun and a singular verb, so we say “has”.
Tap an option on any question to check yourself.
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Questions students ask
What is concord in English?
Concord is agreement between parts of a sentence, mostly between the subject and the verb. A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb.
Is it "neither of them is" or "neither of them are"?
In WASSCE English it is "neither of them is". "Neither of" means not one of the two, so it takes a singular verb.
Why does concord matter in WASSCE?
WAEC's Chief Examiner's report for 2023 lists wrong concord among the common mistakes candidates make. Concord also comes up in Paper 1 structure questions.
Are these real WASSCE past questions?
No. They are our own WASSCE-style questions, written on the same syllabus topics and in the same format as the real exam.