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Question

Difficulty: MediumSubject-Verb Agreement

The passage below discusses the acoustic properties of ancient Greek theatres. Read the passage and determine the correct present-tense form of the verb 'to allow' to complete the sentence. What is the correct form of the verb?

Answer:The acoustic clarity of ancient Greek theatres, which stems from the precise arrangement of limestone seats, 【allows】 actors' voices to carry all the way to the back rows without amplification.

Answer

allows
The subject of the main clause is the singular noun 'clarity'. The intervening elements—the prepositional phrase 'of ancient Greek theatres' and the relative clause 'which stems from the precise arrangement of limestone seats'—do not affect the subject's number. Therefore, the singular verb 'allows' is required to maintain subject-verb agreement.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the subject of the sentence.
The grammatical subject of the main clause is 'clarity' (specifically 'The acoustic clarity').
The prepositional phrase 'of ancient Greek theatres' and the parenthetical relative clause 'which stems from the precise arrangement of limestone seats' are modifiers that separate the subject from the main verb and do not change the grammatical number of the subject.
2
Determine the grammatical number of the subject and select the corresponding verb form.
The noun 'clarity' is singular, so it requires the third-person singular present-tense verb 'allows'.
A singular subject must agree with a singular verb form (ending in '-s' in the present tense) to ensure correct subject-verb agreement.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Agreement
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement

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