Find the part of the sentence that contains an error:
The principal who had retired last year (1)/ and was honoured by all faculty members (2)/ were awarded a lifetime achievement certificate by the board (3)/ on the occasion of annual convocation. (4)
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Correct Answer
were awarded a lifetime achievement certificate by the board (3)
Explanation
The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. The main subject of the sentence is "The principal," which is singular. Therefore, the main verb auxiliary must also be singular to match the subject. The plural past-tense auxiliary verb "were" should be corrected to the singular past-tense auxiliary verb "was."
When corrected, the sentence reads: "The principal... was awarded a lifetime achievement certificate by the board..."
Key Points
Core Definition Subject-verb agreement requires that a singular subject must be paired with a singular verb form, regardless of any intervening descriptive phrases or clauses.
Grammatical Role Correction of the passive auxiliary verb from plural ("were") to singular ("was") to achieve structural harmony with the singular noun head.