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Question

Difficulty: MediumSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Which verb form correctly completes the sentence below to satisfy the rules of grammatical concord?

Answer:A series of technical workshops on renewable energy systems 【was】 conducted by the visiting engineers last month.

Answer

was
The sentence requires the singular past verb 'was' because the true subject of the clause is the singular noun phrase led by 'A series'. Expressions structured as 'a series of [plural noun]' take a singular verb in standard English concord.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the head noun of the subject phrase.
The head noun is 'series' in the noun phrase 'A series of technical workshops'.
The head noun 'series' is singular when specifying a single sequence or collection, despite being followed by the plural prepositional object 'workshops'.
2
Determine the appropriate auxiliary verb based on temporal context and subject concord.
The singular past auxiliary verb 'was' is required to agree with the singular head noun 'series' and temporal marker 'last month'.
Under standard grammatical concord rules, a singular subject noun takes a singular verb.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Agreement with Nouns of Multitude and Noun Phrases (A series of...)
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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