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Question

Difficulty: MediumSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Fill in the blank with the correct form of the auxiliary verb that satisfies the rules of grammatical concord.

Answer:Every member of the newly appointed advisory committees, together with the department heads, 【is】 required to attend the orientation session tomorrow.

Answer

is
The sentence subject is 'Every member', which is singular and requires the singular verb 'is'. The prepositional phrase 'together with the department heads' acts as an adjunct/parenthetical element and does not pluralize the subject.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the core grammatical subject of the sentence.
The main subject is 'Every member'.
Indefinite pronouns qualified by 'every' are grammatically singular.
2
Analyze the effect of the prepositional/parenthetical phrase 'together with the department heads'.
The phrase introduced by 'together with' does not compound the subject.
Expressions such as 'together with', 'along with', and 'as well as' are quasi-conjunctions that do not turn a singular subject into a plural one.
3
Select the singular auxiliary verb in the present tense.
The correct verb is 'is'.
The singular subject 'Every member' must agree with the singular auxiliary verb 'is'.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns and Quasi-Conjunctions
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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