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Difficulty: Very hardSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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

"Neither the resident auditor nor the deputy directors _______ aware that the president of the institute, alongside his executive board members, _______ scheduled to present the annual audit report."

  1. are / isAnswer
  2. B
    is / are
  3. C
    are / are
  4. D
    is / is

Answer

The pair of verbs that correctly completes the sentence is 'are / is'.
The option containing 'are / is' correctly adheres to both concord rules: the rule of proximity governs the first gap, making the verb agree with the plural noun 'deputy directors' ('are'), while the principal subject rule governs the second gap, keeping the verb singular ('is') to agree with 'the president' despite the intervening phrase 'alongside his executive board members'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the first clause containing the correlated subjects joined by 'neither...nor'.
The subjects are 'the resident auditor' (singular) and 'the deputy directors' (plural). By the rule of proximity (nearest concord), the verb must agree with the subject closest to the gap, which is 'the deputy directors' (plural). Thus, a plural verb ('are') is required for the first blank.
When subjects are connected by 'either...or' or 'neither...nor', the verb agrees in person and number with the subject nearer to it.
2
Analyze the second clause containing the main subject and the parenthetical modifier.
The head noun of the subject is 'the president of the institute' (singular). The phrase 'alongside his executive board members' is a prepositional/parenthetical insertion. Therefore, the verb must agree strictly with the singular head noun ('president'), requiring a singular verb ('is').
Expressions introduced by prepositions or quasi-conjunctions such as 'alongside', 'as well as', 'together with', or 'accompanied by' do not form a compound subject and do not alter the number of the principal subject.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Agreement involving Correlated Subjects (Rule of Proximity) and Parenthetical Modifiers
Estimated Time:1m 15s
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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