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Question

Difficulty: MediumSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Consider the following sentence: 'Neither the principal researcher nor the field assistants _____ aware of the sudden change in protocol.' Which option provides the grammatically correct verb form to complete the sentence in accordance with the rule of concord?

  1. A
    was
  2. wereAnswer
  3. C
    is
  4. D
    have

Answer

The verb form 'were' is correct because when two subjects are connected by 'neither ... nor', the verb must agree in number with the subject closest to it ('field assistants').
Under the rule of proximity concord in English grammar, when subjects of different numbers are linked by correlated conjunctions such as 'neither ... nor' or 'either ... or', the verb must agree in number with the noun phrase nearest to it. Here, the plural noun phrase 'the field assistants' is closest to the verb position, requiring the plural verb 'were'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the syntactic structure of the sentence subject.
The subject consists of two noun phrases ('the principal researcher' and 'the field assistants') connected by the correlated conjunction 'neither ... nor'.
Correlated conjunctions follow the principle of proximity concord.
2
Apply the rule of proximity concord.
The subject closer to the verb blank is 'the field assistants', which is plural.
When subjects connected by 'neither ... nor' differ in number, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
3
Select the matching plural past-tense verb form.
The plural past-tense verb form 'were' correctly completes the clause describing a past state of awareness.
Plural subject 'field assistants' requires plural verb agreement.

Key Concept

Proximity Concord with Correlated Conjunctions
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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