Fill in the blanks with a verb form that agrees with the subject.
1The manager, along with his secretary, ............... present in the conference room.
Wrong!
The singular subject "manager" takes the singular verb "was" despite the phrase "along with his secretary".
2Neither John nor Peter ............... present at the hearing.
Wrong!
With "neither... nor" joining two singular nouns, the correct verb is "was".
3A thousand dollars ............... not a small sum.
Wrong!
A sum of money is treated as one amount, so "is" is correct.
4Maria, as well as Alice, ............... there.
Wrong!
The verb agrees with the singular subject "Maria", so "was" is correct.
5Neither you nor I ............... responsible for this.
Wrong!
With "neither... nor", the verb agrees with the nearer pronoun "I", so "am" is correct.
6He neither ............... his money.
Wrong!
The singular subject "He" needs the singular verbs "spends nor donates" in the parallel structure.
7Any increase in the price of essential commodities ............... in inflation.
Wrong!
The singular subject "increase" takes the singular verb "results".
8Our team ............... likely to win.
Wrong!
The collective noun "team" is treated as one unit here, so "is" is correct.
9My family ............... of my parents, my husband, and my children.
Wrong!
The singular collective noun "family" takes the singular verb "consists" here.
10The audience ............... enthralled by the performance.
Wrong!
The collective noun "audience" is treated as one group here, so "was" is correct.
11Young children ............... their parents.
Wrong!
The plural subject "children" takes the base-form verb "imitate".
12The baby ............... startled by the loud sound.
Wrong!
The singular subject "baby" takes the singular verb "was".
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- The manager, along with his secretary, was present in the conference room.
- Neither John nor Peter was present at the hearing.
- A thousand dollars is not a small sum.
- Maria, as well as Alice, was there.
- Neither you nor I am responsible for this.
- He neither spends nor donates his money.
- Any increase in the price of essential commodities results in inflation.
- Our team is likely to win.
- My family consists of my parents, my husband, and my children.
- The audience was enthralled by the performance.
- Young children imitate their parents.
- The baby was startled by the loud sound.