Identify the part of the sentence that contains a grammatical error.
Not only each participant's response (1)/ but also their metadata (2)/ was collected (3)/ and cross-validated. (4)
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Correct Answer: (3)
Explanation
• When two subjects are joined by the correlative conjunction not only... but also..., the verb agrees with the subject closest to it (rule of proximity).
• Here, the closer subject is their metadata, which is plural in this context.
• Therefore, the singular verb was must be replaced with the plural verb were.
Correct Sentence: Not only each participant's response but also their metadata were collected and cross-validated.