On the SAT, collective nouns are treated as singular when the group acts as a single unit, such as 'The committee approves the measure.' The test typically prefers the singular-as-a-unit usage, though a plural sense may appear if individual action is emphasized. This applies to nouns like team, committee, audience, and family.

With either/or or neither/nor constructions, the verb agrees with the nearer subject. For instance, 'Either the researchers or the lead author was present' uses 'was' because 'lead author' is singular and closer to the verb, while 'Either the lead author or the researchers were present' uses 'were' because 'researchers' is plural and nearer.

Traditional usage treats 'data' as plural, but modern standard American English often allows it as a mass singular. On the SAT, look for internal consistency in the sentence: if surrounding determiners and pronouns are singular ('this data, it'), choose a singular verb; if they're plural ('these data, they'), choose a plural verb. The test provides cues through surrounding context.

Inverted structures place the subject after the verb or use placeholder words like 'there' or 'here.' For 'there' or 'here' sentences, the real subject follows the verb, so in 'There are many reasons,' the plural subject 'reasons' requires 'are.' For questions, find the subject after the auxiliary verb. The key technique is to reorder the clause into basic subject-verb structure and test singular versus plural.