Choose the most suitable option to replace the underlined part of the sentence. If the sentence is already correct, select 'No substitution required'.
The minister, along with his aides, ____ visiting the flood-affected areas.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Correct Answer
is visiting
Explanation
Core Meaning: The sentence communicates that a government minister is inspectively touring a region damaged by severe flooding, and he is accompanied by his staff members.
The grammar rule governing this sentence centers on parenthetical subject qualifiers. When a singular subject ("The minister") is joined to a secondary noun using phrases like along with, together with, as well as, or accompanied by, these additions do not alter the number of the true subject. They function as parenthetical insertions rather than coordinating conjunctions like and. Because the true subject remains the singular noun "The minister", the verb must remain singular. This makes is visiting the grammatically correct choice, while plural options like were or are are incorrect.
Key Points
Core Definition: Subject-verb agreement rules state that introductory phrases using "along with" do not create a compound plural subject; the verb conjugates solely based on the primary, initial noun.
Grammatical Role: Selecting a singular continuous auxiliary verb to establish perfect agreement with a grammatically isolated singular subject.