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Difficulty: MediumSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Provide the grammatically correct verb form for the blank in the sentence below to achieve proper subject-verb concord.

Answer:Every member of the committee, as well as the observers, 【is】 required to sign the confidentiality agreement before the session begins.

Answer

The correct verb form to complete the blank is 'is'.
The correct verb is 'is' because the grammatical subject of the main clause is 'Every member', which is singular. The intervening phrase 'as well as the observers' is a parenthetical addition introduced by a quasi-conjunction and does not alter the number of the subject. Furthermore, the subordinate clause 'before the session begins' establishes a present tense context, making the present singular verb 'is' the correct fit.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the primary grammatical subject of the sentence.
The head subject is 'Every member', which is singular.
Indefinite determiners such as 'every' modify the noun head to make the grammatical subject singular.
2
Evaluate the effect of the intervening phrase 'as well as the observers'.
The phrase introduced by 'as well as' is quasi-conjunctional and parenthetical; it does not pluralize the subject.
Expressions like 'as well as', 'together with', and 'alongside' do not function as coordinating conjunctions (like 'and') and do not compound the subject.
3
Determine verb tense and agreement.
The singular present tense verb 'is' agrees with 'Every member' and aligns with the present tense clause 'before the session begins'.
A singular subject requires a singular verb in the present tense to maintain clause consistency.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Concord with Indefinite Determiners and Parenthetical Expressions
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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