The following passage contains two blanks where verb forms are missing. What are the correct present-tense forms of the verbs that should fill these blanks to maintain proper subject-verb agreement?
Answer:Each of the linguistic features discovered in the isolated valley 【suggests】 that the language developed independently of neighboring dialects. Indeed, a team of researchers, accompanied by local guides and translators, 【studies】 the phonology of this unique tongue to document its history.
Answer
The correct verb forms are 'suggests' for the first blank and 'studies' for the second blank.
For the first blank, 'suggests' is correct because the subject is 'Each', which is a singular indefinite pronoun. The modifying prepositional phrase 'of the linguistic features' does not change the number of the subject. For the second blank, 'studies' is correct because the subject is the collective noun 'team', which is singular. The parenthetical phrase 'accompanied by local guides and translators' does not affect the number of the main subject.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Subject-verb agreement with indefinite pronouns, collective nouns, and intervening prepositional or parenthetical phrases.