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Question

Difficulty: MediumVerbs, Tenses, and Aspect

Complete the sentence below by filling in the blank with the grammatically correct verb form.

Answer:During the emergency council session, the minister recommended that the regulatory board 【suspend】 the operating license of the defaulting petroleum company immediately.

Answer

suspend
The verb 'recommended' introduces a mandative subjunctive clause ('that the regulatory board...'). In formal English, clauses following verbs of urging, demand, or recommendation require the base form of the verb (bare infinitive, such as 'suspend'), irrespective of subject-verb agreement rules or the tense of the main verb.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the main verb and governing clause structure.
The main verb is 'recommended', introducing a dependent clause expressing a mandate or proposal ('that the regulatory board...').
Verbs expressing recommendation, demand, insistence, or suggestion mandate the use of the subjunctive mood in the following dependent clause.
2
Determine the correct verb form for the mandative subjunctive mood.
The mandative subjunctive requires the base form (bare infinitive) of the verb, regardless of the singular third-person subject ('regulatory board') or past tense matrix verb ('recommended').
In formal English grammar assessed in JAMB, the subjunctive verb remains uninflected ('suspend'), rather than taking third-person singular '-s' ('suspends') or past tense '-ed' ('suspended').

Key Concept

Mandative Subjunctive Mood
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Verbs, Tenses, and Aspect

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