Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Social Media Report Template How to Show Your Results - CoSchedule

Social Media Report Template How to Show Your Results Social media analytics can hard to translate for clients or coworkers who have little knowledge about each channel. You need to be able to clearly explain what you and your team are doing to justify your budget. Building social media reports can help you do that. But, you can’t just throw some numbers in a spreadsheet and call it good. Your report needs to be visual, comprehensive, and  easy to skim, but also include enough information to prove your work is producing results. The takeaways youll pick up from reading this post are: How to quickly and easily compile a social media report. Well walk through every step of the process. How to explain social media data to your client or team members. Well cover how to analyze your social media data How to prove social media marketing is working for your business. Well show you how to show youre making a difference. Measuring and reporting on social media marketing doesnt have to be hard. And in this post, well prove it. Keep It Simple And Download Our Social Media Report Templates Make social media reporting easy with these three free templates. Download this bundle and youll get: Weekly Social Media Report Template to keep your team and organization up-to-date week to week. Quarterly Social Media Report Template to present your quarterly progress (when youll likely meet with execs, clients, and key stakeholders). BONUS: Social Media Posting Schedule Template to plan out your posting frequency (which you can optimize over time as you see whats working, and what isnt, over time). Snag your free templates first. Then, well walk through how to use them (and start showing your success to your organization).The Best Social Media Report Template to Show Your ResultsWhy Build Social Media Reports? Social media reports help you understand what is and isn’t working in your strategy. They also help you prove that your efforts are working, as well as provide transparency throughout the company as to what your team is doing. Not Sure How Or Where To Gather Your Data? These report templates require a lot of data research to complete. You can find most of that data in different app analytics sites as well as Google Analytics. Check out these resources to find all of the data you need: How to Drill Into Data to Extract Powerful Social Media Insights How to Use Social Media Analytics to Create the Best Content Where Can You Find the Best Social Media Data You Need to Succeed? How to Set Social Media Goals to Crush Your Business Objectives 5 Big Questions About Your Site That Google Analytics Can Answer Or, Use 's  Complete  Social  Analytics Suite Did you know makes it easy to plan and publish social media content? It's true! Our all-in-one marketing calendar includes everything you need to manage your entire social media marketing workflow. And with our new and improved Social Analytics Suite, you can effortlessly measure social performance and produce eye-popping reports. Social Engagement Reports With  Social Engagement Reports, you can get a high-level overview of your social media marketing's engagement performance.   With this report, your marketing team can: Gain actionable insights  into what's working and what isn't for your social profiles.   See past baseline metrics  so you can determine if your efforts are improving your engagement. Filter through data  to find the metrics you need in a snap. Social Profile Reports With Social Profile Reports, you can... Access top social profile reports from one dashboard. Stop downloading reports from individual platforms (or multiple third-party tools). Quickly view important social KPIs for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest right inside . Refine your social strategy with actionable insight. Track your social performance so you know what’s working (and what isn’t). Use real-time data to make updates to your social strategy, so you can continue to drive results. Connect with your audience + create posts that stand out. Track engagement stats and stop guessing at what will (or will not) resonate with your followers. Utilize your social profile reports to identify top content AND start creating posts you know your audience will love. Get social profile reports delivered right to your inbox with scheduled reports. Create and schedule easy-to-understand reports to your team + stakeholders on a weekly or monthly basis. Giving everyone a pulse on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest performance. Just log into your account and find Social Network Reports in your analytics pane: Then, click on your selected network and get a detailed performance breakdown for each channel: Social Campaign Reports But wait, there's more. Our new Social Campaign Report lets you create social media reports for each social media campaign you create. The best part? This report will pull data from any social media campaign you create in . With this report, you'll be able to: Get actionable data on every social campaign. Gone are the days of manually gathering data for every social media campaign you published.   Compare social campaigns to one another.  Want to compare a current campaign to the one you did last year? Now you can. (And you get to avoid scrolling through hundreds of posts manually!) Filter campaigns by content type.  Need to see how your blog post campaigns are doing? Filter them all out automatically. Best of all, you can try it free for 14 days. What are you waiting for? Need social media marketing report automation? Try .Now, Let’s Walk Through How To Use Your Free Report Templates The next part of this post will walk you through what each section of the report template means and how to explain the data to your team. Social Channel Reach Social channel reach data talks about how many people saw your post in their newsfeeds. They don’t have to interact with your post at all in their feeds; they just need to scroll past it. So why should you care about reach? Reach can tell you how many eyes have seen your content, which in turn can help your team establish on average how many people see your content. As you enter your data into the table, the graph below will adjust: To enter your data: Gather all of the new reach totals for each of your channels. Record them in a separate spreadsheet to enter in later. Take last week’s reach for one channel and divide it by new reach. Subtract that number from 100 and that will be your new percent of change. Enter in the new reach total into your chart after the new percent of change has been recorded. To Fill This Out: Gather your reach data and enter it into the chart above. Keep track of your previous week’s data to find your percent of change. Social Channel Shares Social shares are a part of both your weekly report and quarterly report templates. Shares happen any time an audience member shares your content to their newsfeed. Why should this matter to your team or client? Shares help show your team that your audience is finding value in your content. The more often you can provide that value to your audience, the more you create a relationship with them. Social shares in your weekly report are only going to indicate changes over the past week: While your quarterly report will show the volume of shares over four consecutive quarters and will look like this in your report: It is important to note that Instagram will not show shares data because as of right now you cannot share other people’s Instagram, except through third party apps. Before you continue, you may have noticed that the bottom of your graph has a legend that says Date Range at the bottom. You may notice  that changing the labels in your chart does not modify the labels on the graph. To update those labels, click on the chart and select, Select Data in the graph menu: A window will appear, and you’ll be able to adjust your dates in the column marked Horizontal Axis: Once you click OK, your graph should update. To Fill This Out: Gather your shares data for the new week as you did for your reach. Keep track of the previous week’s data to find your percent of change. To fill out your quarterly chart, you can move the previous week’s data down a week to make room for new data. Both graphs should update automatically. Social Channel Likes Likes refer to the number of times that people have interacted with your content by â€Å"liking† it. But why would the number of likes on your content matter? Much like when people share your content, liking your content means your audience made a connection with it. Likes allow you to make sure that your topics are on track with your audience preferences. In your weekly report, your chart will look like this: In the quarterly report, your chart will look like this: To Fill This Out: Gather your like data for the new week. Just as you did with your previous two graphs, keep track of the previous week’s data to find your percent of change. To fill out your quarterly chart, you can move the previous week’s data down a week to make room for new data. Social Channel Comments Social channel comments are another engagement metric that can help show your team and clients that what you’re publishing is connecting with your audience. You can add this into your weekly report if you so choose, however for these templates we’ve only included it in the quarterly report, which looks like this: To Fill This Out: In your quarterly report, you’ll be entering in data that you’ve gathered over the previous three quarters. To fill in this chart, move the previous three-quarters  of data back a space to make room for your new data. Remember to update the date ranges at the bottom of your chart using the same techniques shown earlier. Social Channel Follower Growth The next set of statistics you’ll learn how to record involves how many followers your social channels have gained. Why would these statistics be relevant to your team? The more followers your social channels gain, the more eyes see your content. The more eyes that see your content, the higher probability you’ll have of creating conversions. Plus if you’re gaining a following from fans in your industry or with people that are interested in your company, that means that your content is connecting with the right people. Your follower growth per channel will look like this in your weekly report: It’s important to note that your follower growth in the weekly reports tracks growth over the last four weeks. The quarterly report follower growth chart will look like this: To Fill This Out: Gather your data for the new week. Once you have that done, move your previous three weeks of data back a week in your chart to make room for the new week’s data. You can update the legend in your chart to reflect the new weeks.To fill out your quarterly chart, you’ll use the same process, however, remember the data for this graph should be reflecting every quarter, not every week. Top Posts Per Channel The top posts per channel are a key statistic that you can record both weekly and quarterly in your report templates. Why would tracking your top posts be an important part of the data that you show your teams or clients? Because top posts indicate what types of content are connecting with your audience. If you post videos once every few weeks and that video turns out as a top post every time one is sent, it could be an indicator that it’s the kind of content your audience is looking for. In your weekly and quarterly reports, your top posts will look like this: To Fill This Out: Screenshot each of your top posts per channel. Enter those screenshots into the white boxes in your template. You may need to adjust their sizing to get them to fit. Then enter the corresponding data for each post. Every social network should have that information displayed in the in-app analytics. Social Media Channel Summary The next part of your report process is going to involve just your weekly report. The totals section is meant to help you track your growth of likes, followers and reach over the course of a month. This small snapshot allows you to track spikes in growth giving your team a chance to analyze what happened over those four weeks to cause the rise. In your weekly report, your total section looks like this: To Fill This Out: You probably know the drill for this by now. To fill out this section, move your previous week’s data back a spot to make room for new data. No sweat, right? Social Channel Posts Published The number of social media  posts  that you have sent is going to be recorded in your quarterly report, not your weekly report. You could add in a section for this on your weekly report, however, if your company maintains a consistent posting schedule, it could get repetitive for your team. Your messages data will look like this in your report: To Fill This Out: Once you’ve gathered the data for each of your networks, you can move your previous quarter’s down to make room in your chart for the newly collected data. Social Media Traffic Social media traffic is divided into two different sections for your reports. The first section involves how often your social channels are causing your audience to click to your website. Why is traffic important? Traffic drives people to your website, which in turn should create conversions. The more people you can drive to your website, the more likely you are to create a conversion. Mo’ conversions, mo’ money. In your weekly report, your traffic chart will look like this: In your quarterly report, your traffic chart will look like this: To Fill This Out: Gather your traffic data and enter it into each chart. Your pie chart should adjust based on entered data. The second part of your traffic data is going to involve recording your highest trafficked content, once a quarter. In your quarterly report, you’ll find a section for highest trafficked content. It will look a lot like your top content posts section with space allotted to insert screenshots of your post and record the amount of traffic that those posts generated: To Fill This Out: Screenshot your posts and insert them into the appropriate boxes. Social Media Conversions The second last step in your social media weekly report and the second to last step in your quarterly report will involve reporting your conversions. Conversions are the number of times that your audience members follow through and complete an action that you wanted them to. Conversions can be anything from email sign-ups to buying a product. In your weekly report, your conversion chart will look like this: In your quarterly report, they’re going to look like this: To Fill This Out: You’re going to need the conversion data for each channel, which you can usually find in Google Analytics. Move your data back a week (or a quarter depending on which spreadsheet you’re in) and your graph will adjust automatically. Social Media Clicks The last step in your weekly report will involve tracking the number of clicks that your content has received on each channel. Aren’t clicks and traffic the same thing? Not exactly, clicks can refer people to places outside your website, especially if you’re posting curated content. Tracking your clicks in your weekly report is going to look like this: To Fill This Out: Gather you clicks data from each post that you sent out in the past week. Most of that data will be found in your in-app analytics. Enter the data into your chart and wait for the graph to manually adjust. Top Landing Pages The last step in your quarterly report is going to involve tracking the top three landing pages for each social media channel that you are active on. Tracking your landing pages can show where your audience is ending up the most often on your website. If it’s where you need them to go, great! If not it may be time to rethink where their initial landing point on your website is. Your top landing pages are going to look like this in your report: To Fill This Out: Pull your top landing pages out of Google Analytics and insert each  URL into each  box. Social Analysis Okay, so we’re not quite done yet! The *actual* last part of your report is going to involve writing summary notes or details that aren’t explained in the report. This section can be whatever you need it to be in to explain the data to your team: To Fill This Out: Record any observations or analytics that we’re covered in the report that your team needs to know. Wanna Know How We Can Make That Process Even Easier? has its own social media analytics functionality and exportable Social Engagement Reports  that make all this work even easier to complete.    Talk about a time saver. Ready to automate your social reporting schedule? Start your free trial and see how can help.

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Subject-Verb Agreement for ACT English Tips and Practice

Subject-Verb Agreement for ACT English Tips and Practice SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In this article, we shall delve into the fun-filled world of subject-verb agreement on the ACT. Subject-verb agreement questions on ACT English are less common than punctuation questions; however, you can count on having at least a couple of subject-verb agreement on your ACT English section, so understanding this grammatical rule can easily help you improve your ACT English score. While the grammar rule itself is relatively simple, the questions related to it can be challenging and a bit tricky. In this article, I’ll teach you strategies and tipsto become a master of all things subject-verb agreement on the ACT. In this post, I’ll do the following: Give you a clear understanding of subject-verb agreement. Explain why and how subject-verb agreement questions on ACT English can be tricky. Offer general strategies that can help you correctly answer subject-verb agreement questions. Provide you with practice questions so you can test what you’ve learned. Review: Definition of a Subject The subject of a sentence is the noun that corresponds with the verb in the sentence. In a sentence where there is an action, the subject is the noun that does the action. Doer of action=subject. Here's an example sentence: Justin rescued a kitten from a burning building. What is the subject? Justin. Why? Well, he is the hero who did the rescuing. Similarly, in a sentence with a description, typically using a form of the verb "to be," the subject is the noun that is being described. See: Justin is not funny. Once again, "Justin" is the subject because he is the person who is not funny. Now that we understand the concept of a subject, I'll define and explain subject-verb agreeement for you. Explanation of Subject-Verb Agreement Subject-verb agreement is a rule that states that all subjects must agree with their verbs in number. If a subject is singular, then you must use a singular verb. If a subject is plural, then you must use a plural verb. On the ACT, most subject-verb agreement questions deal with verb forms in the third-person singular (he/she/it/one) and third-person plural (they). In the present and present perfect verb tenses, third-person singular verb forms end in an "s." Third-person plural verb forms do not. Look at this incorrectly written sentence in the present tense: The reality television star readbooks. This is the corrected version of the sentence: The reality television star reads books. While you may have intuitively known how to correct this sentence, and you could have relied on what "sounds right," you should understand why the original sentence was incorrect. The subject of the sentence is "the reality television star." She is the person who does the reading. Furthermore, since we're referring to one reality star, the subject is singular. Because our subject is singular, the verb needs to be in the singular form. In the present tense, "read" is plural. Therefore, we need to change the verb to the singular form "reads." Let's look at another example with a plural subject. This is our incorrect sentence: The singers performs bad cover songs. How do we correct the sentence? Like this: The singers perform bad cover songs. The subject is "singers" because they are doing the performing. "Singers" is plural, so the verb should be in the plural form. The plural form of the verb is "perform." This rule may seem rather simple; however, of course, the ACT doesn't want to make life too simple for you. Subject-verb agreement questions on the ACT can be challenging. The sentences will be more complex than the ones above, and the subject-verb agreement errors will not be as obvious. How Are These Questions Challenging? Typically, when you encounter subject-verb agreement questions on the ACT, the subject will not be placed directly in front of the verb.The subject will either be separated from the verb by an interrupting phrase or, in rare cases, the sentence will be inverted and the subject will follow the verb. Here are ACT English tips you can use to identify the traps students fall for. Trap #1: Interrupting Phrases Interrupting phrases are phrases that separate the subject from the verb. These phrases make identifying the subject and determining whether the verb should be singular or plural more challenging. We'll take a look at a couple of types of interrupting phrases. You don't need to know all of the specific grammar terms, but you should understand and recognize the effect they have on subject-verb agreement questions. Prepositional Phrases The most common interrupting phrase that appears on the ACT is the prepositional phrase. Simply, a prepositional phrase is a phrase that begins with a preposition. What are prepositions? Prepositions provide additional details about nouns and often answer the questions "Where?", "When?", or provide descriptive information. Take a look at some examples of commonly used prepositions: http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-preposition-definition-uses-examples.html On the ACT, prepositional phrases tend to be inserted between subjects and verbs to distract from errors in subject-verbagreement. Here's an example of an incorrectly written sentence using a prepositional phrase as an interrupting phrase: Changes for the new and improved ACT Writing section is going to be implemented soon. First, let's identify the subject. What is going to be implemented? Changes. The phrase "for the new and improved ACT Writing section" is a prepositional phrase that begins with the preposition "for." The prepositional phrase describes the changes that will be implemented. See how the ACT can trick you by putting a singular noun, "section," right before the verb. However, because "changes" is plural, the verb should be in the plural form. Unfortunately, "is" is singular. Here's how the sentence should look: Changes for the new and improved ACT Writing section are going to be implemented soon. So how do you avoid falling for this common ACT trap? Strategy Cross out the prepositonal phrase and the sentence should still be grammatically correct. Additionally, using this strategy will enable you to more easily identify the subject and determine whether there's an error in subject-verb agreement. Always remember that the subject will never be contained within a prepositional phrase. Let's employ this strategy with the incorrectly written sentence above: Changes for the new and improved ACT Writing section is going to be implemented soon. Now that the subject is right in front of the verb, the subject-verb agreement error is much more obvious. The strategy involves three steps: Cross out the prepositional phrase. Identify the subject. Determine if there's an error in subject-verb agreement. Use this strategy and you'll be much less likely to miss a subject-verb agreement question on the ACT. You're welcome. Actual ACT English Example Question Let's use this strategy with an example taken from an actual ACT: First, let's cross out the prepositional phrase. Equipment for both types of kayaks are similar. We're left with "Equipment are similar." Even if the answer is obvious to you at this point, let's go through the remaining steps. The subject is "equipment," which is singular. The verb is "are," which is plural; therefore, there's an error in subject-verb agreement and the correct answer is G. Based on the context of the passage, the verb should be in the present tense. The other types of interrupting phrases on the ACT serve the same function as the prepositional phrase in subject-verb agreement questions. They separate the subject from the verb. Let's take a look at another common type of interrupting phrase on the ACT. Non-Essential Clauses and Appositives Non-essential clauses describe a noun, often the subject of a sentence. They are surrounded by commas and can be removed without creating grammatical errors or changes in the meaning of a sentence. Here's a sentence with the non-essential clause in bold: My sister, who is very social, was elected class president. The non-essential clause is separated by commas and serves to provide descriptive information about my sister. Removing the clause doesn't result in a grammatical error or change in the meaning of the sentence. Check it out: My sister, who is very social, was elected class president. One additional note about non-essential clauses is that a subject-verb agreement error can be contained within the clause itself. Take this sentence, for example: Carbonated beverages, which is delicious, are not good for your health. The verb in the non-essential clause, "is," corresponds with the subject "carbonated beverages." Because the subject is plural, the verb should be in the plural form as well. The sentence should read: Carbonated beverages, which are delicious, are not good for your health. While a non-essential clause usually starts with a relative pronoun (which, who, whose, or where), it doesn't in a phrase known as an appositive. An appositive serves the same purpose as a non-essential clause, but an appositive doesn't contain a verb. Here's a sentence with the appositive in bold: My sister, a very social person, was elected class president. The appositive provides descriptive information about my sister, but the phrase can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence or creating a grammatical error. How will knowing about these phrases help you answer subject-verb agreement questions on the ACT? Read below to find out. Non-Essential Clauses and Appositives on the ACT Just like prepositional phrases, non-essential clauses and appositives will be placed between subjects and verbs to make it less clear if there's an error in subject-verb agreement. Here's a sentence with a non-essential clause. I've underlined the subject and bolded the verb: My boss, who is extremely kind to his employees, give helpful advice. The non-essential clause separates the subject from the verb. The subject is "boss," which is singular, and the verb is "give," which is plural. There's an obvious error in subject-agreement. The sentence should read: My boss, who is extremely kind to his employees, gives helpful advice. On the ACT, you may encounter a similar sentence. Many students will incorrectly assume that the subject is "employees" because that is the noun closest to the verb. While "employees" is plural, the actual subject "boss" is singular. By correctly identifying the subject, you can avoid being tricked by the interrupting phrase. The method you should you use to avoid being tricked is the same one I taught you for prepositional phrases. Strategy In sentences with non-essential clauses or appositives, always cross out those phrases. Doing so makes it much easier to identify errors in subject-verb agreement. Let's use this strategy with the incorrectly written exmple sentence from above: My boss, who is extremely kind to his employees, give helpful advice. After we cross out the non-essential clause, we're left with "My boss give helpful advice." The singular subject is right next to the plural verb. The error in subject-verb agreement should be obvious. Nice! Actual ACT English Example Question Let's put our knowledge to use. Here's another example from a real ACT: In this example, the non-essential clause is surrounded by dashes, which serve the same function as commas in this sentence. The ACT folks threw in that extra curve ball because they also really like testing your knowledge of punctuation. If we cross out the prepositional phrase "of letters" and the non-essential clause, we're left with "Dickinson's last twenty years reveals." The subject is "years," which is plural, so the verb should be in the plural form. The answer is B. Let's briefly discuss one last type of interrupting phrase you may encounter on the ACT. Essential Clauses with "That" Occasionally, an error in subject-verb agreement will involve a clause beginning with "that." The clause will end right before the verb. For sentences with these clauses, simply use the same strategy we used with non-essential clauses. Take a look at this sentence: A book that has an interesting plot and well-developed characters are fun to read. The essential clause begins with "that" and ends right before the verb "are." Just like we did with non-essential clauses, let's cross out the clause. We're left with "A book are fun to read." The singular subject is now right next to the plural verb. Here's the corrected version of the sentence: A book that has an interesting plot and well-developed characters is fun to read. There's another tactic the ACT uses, though much less common, to complicate basic subject-verb agreement questions. Trap #2: Sometimes the Subject Comes After the Verb In rare instances, the typical word order of a sentence will be altered so that a prepositional phrase appears at the beginning of a sentence and the subject follows the verb. In these instances, it can be particularly challenging to identify the subject and determine if there's an error in subject-verb agreeement. In order to illustrate this point, let's look at an example sentence with the prepositional phrase underlined and the verb in bold: In the trunk of my car resides fifteen empty water bottles. We know that a subject can't be contained within a prepositional phrase. Also, we know that a subject is the noun that's doing the action. In the sentence, what's residing? The water bottles. The prepositional phrase provides information about where the water bottles are residing. Because the subject is "water bottles," the verb should be in the plural form. This is the correct version of the sentence: In the trunk of my car reside fifteen empty water bottles. The correctly written sentence may sound more awkward to you because the singular noun "car" is placed right next to the plural form of a verb. You should focus on the rules and strategies as opposed to just relying on what "sounds right." In extremely rare situations, the subject follows the verb but is not preceded by a prepositional phrase. Check out this sentence: Skipping school is fun, but less fun is its consequences. In this sentence, what is less fun? The "consequences". Therefore, in the second clause, "consequences" is the subject. The verb "is" corresponds with the subject "consequences." Because we have a plural subject and a singular verb, there's an error in subject-verb agreement. This is the corrected version of the sentence: Skipping school is fun, but less fun are its consequences. Is there a way to simplify these types of sentences to help determine if there's an error in subject-verb agreement? Of course. Strategy In sentences in which the subject follows the verb, rearrange the sentence so that it follows the normal structure of subject then verb. Using this strategy will allow you to more easily spot any errors in subject-verb agreement. If you utilize this method in the incorrectly written sentence above, you'd be left with "its consequences is less fun." The plural subject is now right next to the singular verb and the error should be immediately apparent. Now, we'll cover one more unique situation that can complicate the most basic subject-verb agreement questions. Trap #3: Compound Subjects A compound subject is a subject in whichtwo singular nouns are connected by "and."In a sentence with a compound subject, you should use the plural form of the verb. Here's a basic sentence demonstrating this rule: Justin and the ACT are friends. Because the subject is both "Justin" and the "ACT," the verb should be in the plural form. This is a more complicated example in which a prepositional phrase is also placed at the beginning of the sentence: In between the cushions of my couch is change and an old pen. First, let's rearrange the sentence so that the subject comes before the verb. What's in between the cushions? Change and an old pen. So after doing our rearranging, the sentence should read "Change and an old pen is in between the cushions of my couch." The subject is both change and an old pen; therefore, the verb should be in the plural form. This is the corrected sentence: In between the cushions of my couch are change and an old pen. At this point, we're aware of the ways the ACT complicates basic subject-verb agreement questions. We've also learned specific strategies to use when faced with certain types of situations. Here are some general tips to follow to help you correctly answer any subject-verb agreement question you may encounter on the ACT. General Strategies for ACT Subject-Verb Agreement Look for Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement When a Verb Is Underlined If a verb is underlined, make sure there are no errors in subject-verb agreement. Singular and Plural Forms of the Same Verb in the Answer Choices Signal a Possible Error in Subject-Verb Agreement On the ACT, you can often figure out what's being tested based on the underlined phrase and the answer choices. If you see that there are singular and plural forms of the same verb in the answer choices, determine if there's an error in subject-verb agreement. Always Identify the Subject Both subjects of sentences and subjects of clauses must agree with their verbs. For each underlined verb, find the noun that corresponds with that specific verb. Then, determine whether that subject is singular or plural and make sure that the subject and verb agree. The Subject Is Never Part of a Prepositional Phrase Be aware that a subject will not be part of a prepositional phrase. Most subject-verb agreement questions on the ACT separate a subject from a verb with a prepositional phrase. Remember the strategy of crossing out the phrase to aid in answering these questions. Be Able to Recognize the Common Tricks Knowing the common tricks the ACT English section uses on questions that test your knowledge of subject-verb agreement can be helpful. The better you know these tricks, the more quickly you'll be able to recognize them and use the appropriate strategies to correctly answer subject-verb agreement questions. Additional Practice Hopefully, by this point you thoroughly understand subject-verb agreement and how to correctly answer any subject-verb agreement question that may appear on the ACT. I've created some realistic ACT English practice problems to test you on what you've learned. Remember to use the general strategies I referenced above. 1. Beautifully written sentences composed by the prolific and talented author has been integral to his success. A. NO CHANGE B. have been C. was D. is being 2. The size and style of the dress is not to my liking. A. NO CHANGE B. was C. will being D. are 3. The selfish man, who owns five cars and two houses, has been unwilling to give any money to charity. A. NO CHANGE B. were C. have been D. has being 4. Mastery of grammar rules are essential to doing well on ACT English. A. NO CHANGE B. are being C. is D. were 5. Swimming pools that are above ground are often mocked by snobs. A. NO CHANGE B. are being C. is D. will been Answers: 1. B., 2. D, 3. A, 4. C, 5. A What's Next? Now that you're comfortable with subject-verb agreement on the ACT, familiarize yourself with everything that's actually tested on ACT English. You'll probably want to read this article about commas, too. For those overachievers out there, find out how to get a perfect score on ACT English from a perfect scorer. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this English lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial: