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Question

Difficulty: HardSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Which of the options correctly completes the sentence below?

'Every one of the senior delegates who attended the international summit ______ that the proposed treaty, if ratified, will significantly impact regional trade.'

  1. believesAnswer
  2. B
    believe
  3. C
    have believed
  4. D
    are believing

Answer

The option containing 'believes' is correct.
The main clause subject is the singular indefinite pronoun 'Every one'. Neither intervening prepositional phrases ('of the senior delegates') nor relative clauses ('who attended the international summit') affect the singular number of the head subject. Consequently, the singular verb 'believes' is required.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the main grammatical subject of the sentence
The subject of the main clause is 'Every one', which is a singular indefinite pronoun phrase.
The noun phrase 'the senior delegates' is embedded within a prepositional phrase ('of the senior delegates') and does not function as the main head noun.
2
Apply the appropriate concord rule for indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns such as 'each', 'every one', and 'either' take singular verbs.
Grammatical concord dictates that 'Every one' requires a third-person singular verb inflection in the present tense.
3
Select the correct verb form
'Believes' is the third-person singular present tense form.
It matches the singular subject 'Every one' correctly.

Key Concept

Indefinite Pronoun Concord with Intervening Modifiers
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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