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Difficulty: EasySubject-Verb Agreement

The following passage contains an underlined portion.

Although many people believe that writing a novel is a solitary endeavor, collaborative writing projects have become increasingly popular. A small group of dedicated authors write a single manuscript by dividing the chapters among themselves. This method allows them to combine their unique styles into a cohesive story.

Which choice best completes the sentence and maintains proper subject-verb agreement?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. writesAnswer
  3. C
    wrote
  4. D
    are writing

Answer

The correct answer is the singular verb 'writes'.
The correct choice is the singular verb 'writes'. The subject of the sentence is the singular collective noun 'group', not the plural noun 'authors' within the intervening prepositional phrase 'of dedicated authors'. A singular subject requires a singular verb, and since the passage is written in the present tense, 'writes' is the correct form.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the subject of the sentence containing the underlined verb.
The subject is 'group' (specifically, 'A small group'), which is a singular collective noun.
To ensure proper subject-verb agreement, the verb must match the number of the true subject, not the plural noun 'authors' inside the prepositional phrase 'of dedicated authors'.
2
Determine the correct verb form that agrees with the singular subject and matches the tense of the passage.
The singular present-tense verb 'writes' matches the singular subject 'group' and aligns with the present-tense verbs ('believe', 'have become', 'allows') used throughout the passage.
This resolves the subject-verb agreement error without introducing tense inconsistency.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Agreement with Intervening Phrases
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement

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