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Question

Difficulty: MediumSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Consider the sentence below:

'Not only the principal investigator but also the field assistants ______ required to submit weekly progress reports to the ethics committee.'

Which verb form correctly completes the sentence above?

  1. A
    is
  2. areAnswer
  3. C
    was
  4. D
    has been

Answer

The correct answer is the plural present-tense verb 'are'.
When two subjects are joined by correlative conjunctions such as 'not only... but also...', the verb must agree in number with the subject closest to it (the proximity rule). Here, the subject closest to the verb blank is the plural noun phrase 'field assistants', which requires the plural verb 'are'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the conjunction structure connecting the subjects in the sentence.
The subjects are connected by the correlative conjunction pair 'not only... but also...'.
Correlative conjunctions determine which concord rule governs verb selection.
2
Apply the proximity concord rule for correlative conjunctions.
The verb must agree in number and person with the noun phrase closest to the blank, which is 'the field assistants'.
When subjects are linked by 'not only... but also', proximity concord dictates agreement with the nearer subject.
3
Determine the number of the closer subject and select the corresponding verb form.
'Field assistants' is plural, requiring the plural verb 'are'.
Plural noun subjects demand plural verb agreement in standard English grammar.

Key Concept

Proximity Concord with Correlative Conjunctions
Estimated Time:50s
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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