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Question

Difficulty: EasySubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Complete the sentence below by supplying the correct form of the auxiliary verb in the blank to satisfy the rule of subject-verb agreement.

Answer:The committee of local experts 【has】 submitted its final recommendations to the board.

Answer

has
The correct answer is 'has' because the subject of the sentence is the singular collective noun 'committee', which acts as a single body. The intervening prepositional phrase 'of local experts' does not alter the singular agreement requirement of the main subject.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the grammatical subject head noun in the sentence.
The subject phrase is 'The committee of local experts', where the core head noun is 'committee'.
The plural noun 'experts' is part of an intervening prepositional phrase ('of local experts') and does not function as the head of the subject.
2
Determine the number of the collective noun based on context.
The noun 'committee' refers to a single collective entity acting in unison (indicated by the singular pronoun 'its').
In formal English concord, a collective noun acting as a unified whole takes a singular verb.
3
Select the correct singular auxiliary verb form.
The singular auxiliary verb 'has' correctly matches the singular head noun 'committee'.
Subject-verb agreement requires singular subjects to take singular verbs in present perfect constructions.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns and Intervening Phrases
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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