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Question

Difficulty: MediumSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Consider the sentence below:

'Each of the newly appointed ambassadors, together with their delegation members, _______ expected to present credentials to the President tomorrow.'

Which of the following verb forms correctly completes the sentence in accordance with the rules of grammatical concord?

  1. A
    are
  2. isAnswer
  3. C
    were
  4. D
    have

Answer

The singular verb 'is' correctly completes the sentence.
The head subject of the sentence is the indefinite pronoun 'Each', which is grammatically singular and requires a singular verb. Intervening phrases introduced by quasi-coordinators like 'together with their delegation members' do not change the grammatical number of the subject. Combined with the future temporal context indicated by 'tomorrow', the singular present verb 'is' correctly completes the sentence.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the head subject of the sentence
The subject is the indefinite pronoun 'Each'. The phrase 'of the newly appointed ambassadors' is a prepositional modifier.
Indefinite pronouns like 'Each', 'Every', and 'Either' function as singular head subjects regardless of plural nouns inside post-modifying phrases.
2
Analyze intervening quasi-conjunctions
The prepositional phrase 'together with their delegation members' does not alter the grammatical number of the subject.
Expressions introduced by 'together with', 'as well as', or 'alongside' are parenthetical additions and do not form a compound subject.
3
Select the verb form that satisfies singular concord and tense context
The present singular auxiliary verb 'is' is required.
The singular subject 'Each' requires a singular verb, and the future time marker 'tomorrow' aligns with the present passive construction 'is expected'.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns and Intervening Quasi-Conjunctions
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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