WREN & MARTIN's English grammar-10 MCQs on Verb Agreement with Its Subject in Number
10 MCQs on Verb Agreement with Its Subject in Number
1. "The quality of the mangoes *___ * not up to the standard expected by the customers." — Choose the correct verb form.
- A) are
- B) were
- C) have been
- D) is
Answer: D) is (The subject of the sentence is "the quality" which is a singular noun — the prepositional phrase "of the mangoes" comes between the subject and the verb but does not affect subject-verb agreement — the verb must agree with the head noun "quality" which is singular making "is" the correct form.)
2. "Neither the principal nor the teachers *___ * aware of the sudden change in the school timetable." — Choose the correct verb form.
- A) is
- B) was
- C) has been
- D) were
Answer: D) were (In "neither…nor" constructions the verb agrees with the subject closest to it — "the teachers" is the nearest subject and it is plural — the verb must therefore be in the plural form "were" — this rule of proximity agreement applies to both "either…or" and "neither…nor" constructions.)
3. "Each of the students *___ * required to submit a detailed project report before the final examination." — Choose the correct verb form.
- A) are
- B) were
- C) is
- D) have been
Answer: C) is (The subject "each" is a distributive pronoun that always takes a singular verb regardless of the plural noun that follows it in the prepositional phrase "of the students" — "each" refers to every individual member of a group considered separately making the singular verb "is" the correct choice.)
4. "The news of the floods in the northern region *___ * deeply saddened the entire nation." — Choose the correct verb form.
- A) have
- B) were
- C) are
- D) has
Answer: D) has (The subject "the news" is an uncountable noun that always takes a singular verb despite ending in "s" which might suggest a plural — "news" is one of several nouns that appear plural in form but are singular in meaning — other examples include "mathematics" "physics" "economics" and "information.")
5. "A number of students *___ * absent from the class due to the heavy rainfall in the city." — Choose the correct verb form.
- A) is
- B) was
- C) has been
- D) were
Answer: D) were ("A number of" is a phrase that always takes a plural verb because it means "several" or "many" and refers to individuals within a group — the full phrase "a number of students" is treated as a plural subject — this contrasts with "the number of" which always takes a singular verb as it refers to a single figure or count.)
6. "The team of highly experienced engineers *___ * working on the innovative project since last year." — Choose the correct verb form.
- A) are
- B) were
- C) have been
- D) has been
Answer: D) has been (The subject of the sentence is "the team" which is a collective noun — when a collective noun refers to a group acting as a single unified body it takes a singular verb — "has been working" is the correct present perfect continuous form agreeing with the singular collective noun "the team.")
7. "Not only the manager but also the employees *___ * held responsible for the financial irregularities." — Choose the correct verb form.
- A) is
- B) was
- C) has been
- D) were
Answer: D) were (In "not only…but also" constructions the verb agrees with the subject closest to it — "the employees" is the nearest subject and it is plural — the verb must therefore be in the plural form "were" — the rule of proximity agreement requires the verb to match the number of the subject immediately preceding it.)
8. "Mathematics *___ * considered one of the most challenging subjects by a majority of the students." — Choose the correct verb form.
- A) are
- B) were
- C) have been
- D) is
Answer: D) is ("Mathematics" is a subject that ends in "-s" but is singular in meaning and always takes a singular verb — subjects such as "mathematics" "physics" "economics" "ethics" "politics" and "linguistics" appear to be plural in form but are treated as uncountable singular nouns — the correct verb form is the singular "is.")
9. "The jury *___ * divided in their opinion about the guilt of the accused person." — Choose the correct verb form.
- A) is
- B) was
- C) has been
- D) were
Answer: D) were (When a collective noun such as "jury" refers to members acting as separate individuals with differing opinions it takes a plural verb — "divided in their opinion" indicates that the members of the jury held individual and varying views making the plural verb "were" the correct choice — collective nouns can take either singular or plural verbs depending on context.)
10. "Which of the following sentences correctly illustrates subject-verb agreement?"
- A) The list of items required for the programme were submitted to the organiser.
- B) A large number of volunteers has signed up for the community service project.
- C) Either the students or the teacher is responsible for maintaining the classroom.
- D) The committee have unanimously decided to postpone the annual general meeting.
Answer: C) Either the students or the teacher is responsible for maintaining the classroom. (This sentence correctly applies the rule of proximity agreement — in "either…or" constructions the verb agrees with the nearest subject — "the teacher" is singular and closest to the verb so the singular form "is" is correct — option A incorrectly uses "were" for the singular subject "the list" option B incorrectly uses "has" after "a large number of" and option D incorrectly uses "have" treating the singular collective noun "the committee" as plural.)
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