Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Which verb form correctly completes the sentence below?

"Neither of the senior administrative officers ______ present at the budget defence yesterday."

  1. wasAnswer
  2. B
    were
  3. C
    are
  4. D
    have been

Answer

The correct option is 'was' because the indefinite pronoun 'Neither' takes a singular verb.
The correct choice is 'was'. The indefinite pronoun 'Neither' functions as the head of the subject phrase and is grammatically singular, requiring a singular verb. The adverb 'yesterday' indicates that the simple past tense is required, making 'was' the only grammatically correct option.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the true subject head noun of the sentence.
The subject head is the indefinite pronoun 'Neither', not the plural noun 'officers' within the prepositional phrase.
Prepositional modifiers located between the subject pronoun and the verb do not alter the grammatical number of the subject.
2
Determine the grammatical number and required verb form.
The indefinite pronoun 'Neither' is grammatically singular in standard formal English and requires a singular past tense verb ('was').
The temporal marker 'yesterday' specifies a completed past action, requiring the simple past form.
3
Select the option that matches the required singular past verb form.
The form 'was' correctly satisfies both grammatical concord and tense requirements.
It agrees in number with 'Neither' and in tense with 'yesterday'.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Concord with Indefinite Pronouns
Rate this question

Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

More questions from this topic