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Zorluk: OrtaSubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Consider the following sentence:

'Neither the Senior Advocate of Nigeria nor his defense attorneys _______ convinced by the prosecution's closing arguments.'

Which of the following options correctly completes the sentence?

  1. wereCevap
  2. B
    was
  3. C
    is
  4. D
    has been

Cevap

The correct option is 'were' because in sentences using correlated conjunctions such as 'neither...nor', the verb must agree in person and number with the subject closest to it ('defense attorneys').
When subjects are joined by correlated conjunctions like 'neither...nor', grammatical concord mandates the rule of proximity: the verb agrees with the noun or pronoun nearest to it. Since 'defense attorneys' is plural and positioned immediately before the verb slot, the past tense plural verb 'were' is grammatically correct.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Identify the structure of the subject in the clause.
The subject consists of two elements connected by the correlated conjunction 'neither...nor': 'the Senior Advocate of Nigeria' (singular) and 'his defense attorneys' (plural).
Correlated conjunctions follow specific agreement rules based on proximity.
2
Apply the rule of proximity concord.
The noun closest to the verb blank is 'defense attorneys', which is plural.
When subjects of different numbers are joined by 'neither...nor', the verb must agree with the nearer subject.
3
Select the verb form that matches the plural subject in past tense context.
The plural past tense verb 'were' is required.
'were' agrees with plural 'attorneys' and maintains the past narrative tense of the sentence.

Anahtar Kavram

Proximity Concord with Correlated Conjunctions (Neither...Nor)
Bu soruyu puanla

Konular

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Bu konudan daha fazla soru