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Question

Difficulty: MediumSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Complete the sentence below by supplying the correct past-tense auxiliary verb that satisfies the rules of grammatical concord.

Answer:The lead investigator, as well as members of the forensic team, _______ present at the crime scene yesterday.

Answer

The correct auxiliary verb to fill the blank is 'was'.
The sentence requires the singular past-tense auxiliary verb 'was' because the true subject of the clause is 'The lead investigator', which is singular. Expressions introduced by 'as well as' are parenthetical and do not convert a singular subject into a plural one.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the primary grammatical subject of the sentence.
The core subject is the singular noun phrase 'The lead investigator'.
Qualifying phrases introduced by quasi-conjunctions or parenthetical prepositional markers such as 'as well as', 'together with', or 'along with' do not join nouns into a compound plural subject.
2
Determine the required verb agreement and tense.
The blank requires a singular past-tense verb form, 'was'.
The singular subject ('lead investigator') demands a singular verb, and the temporal marker 'yesterday' specifies the past tense.

Key Concept

Parenthetical Expressions in Subject-Verb Concord
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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