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Question

Difficulty: HardSubject-Verb Agreement

What is the correct present-tense form of the verb remain that should fill the blank to maintain proper subject-verb agreement?

Answer:Deep within the vault of the national archives, alongside the treaties and diplomatic correspondence from the turn of the century, 【remain】 the original diaries of the lead negotiator.

Answer

remain
The correct answer is the plural verb 'remain' because the true subject of the verb is the plural noun 'diaries.' In this inverted sentence, the verb precedes the subject. Nouns in the preceding prepositional phrases, such as 'negotiator,' 'correspondence,' or 'century,' are singular but do not affect the agreement, as they are not the subject of the clause.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Locate the subject of the verb in the sentence.
The subject is 'the original diaries of the lead negotiator,' which follows the verb in this inverted sentence structure.
Inverted sentences place the subject after the verb, making it crucial to look past preceding prepositional phrases to find the true subject.
2
Determine the grammatical number of the head noun of the subject.
The head noun is 'diaries,' which is plural.
The number of the head noun determines whether the verb must be singular or plural.
3
Select the correct present-tense form of the verb 'remain' that matches the plural subject.
The plural present-tense form is 'remain' (not the singular 'remains').
A plural subject requires a plural verb to maintain proper subject-verb agreement.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Agreement
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement

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