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Difficulty: Very hardConjunctions and Clause Structure

Which option accurately completes the correlative and inverted clause structures in the sentence below?

"Neither the chief accountant nor the auditors ________ convinced by the financial statement, nor ________ the managing director offer a plausible explanation."

  1. were / didAnswer
  2. B
    was / did
  3. C
    were / has
  4. D
    was / has

Answer

The correct option is 'were / did'.
In sentences using the correlative conjunction 'neither... nor', proximity concord dictates that the verb must agree with the noun subject closest to it. Here, 'auditors' is plural, so the plural past verb 'were' is grammatically correct. Furthermore, when the negative coordinating conjunction 'nor' introduces the second independent clause, negative subject-auxiliary inversion occurs. The simple past tense auxiliary verb 'did' preserves sequence of tenses with 'were' and correctly precedes the subject 'the central bank governor' and bare infinitive main verb 'offer'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the subject-verb concord in the first clause joined by the correlative conjunction 'neither... nor'.
The compound subject consists of singular 'chief accountant' and plural 'auditors'. According to the principle of proximity, the verb must agree with the subject closest to it ('auditors').
When subjects are connected by 'neither... nor', the verb agrees in number with the nearer subject noun phrase.
2
Determine the correct verb form for the first blank based on proximity concord.
The plural past verb 'were' is required to agree with 'auditors'.
'Auditors' is plural, requiring the plural past tense verb form 'were'.
3
Analyze the clause structure following the negative conjunction 'nor' in the second part of the sentence.
The initial negative coordinator 'nor' requires negative clause inversion (auxiliary verb + subject + main verb).
When a clause begins with a negative conjunction like 'nor', Subject-Auxiliary Inversion is mandatory.
4
Select the auxiliary verb for the inverted second clause that maintains tense agreement.
The past auxiliary 'did' correctly pairs with the bare infinitive 'offer' and aligns with the simple past tense established in the first clause.
The sentence describes completed past events, necessitating past tense auxiliary 'did' rather than present tense 'has'.

Key Concept

Correlative Conjunction Proximity Concord and Negative Subject-Auxiliary Inversion
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Topics

Conjunctions and Clause Structure

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