Parts of the following sentence have been given as options. Select the option that contains an error.
The team of scientists were conducting experiments to test their hypothesis.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is option 4 i.e. were conducting.
Error Concept: Subject-verb agreement
What is wrong: The subject "team" is a collective noun and is considered singular when the group is acting as a single unit. Therefore, it should be followed by a singular verb.
Grammatical Concept:
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Correct: The team was conducting experiments…
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Incorrect: The team were conducting experiments…
Unless the sentence clearly emphasizes the individuals acting separately, we use the singular verb.
How to correct: Replace “were” with “was”.
Correct phrase/ correction: The team of scientists was conducting experiments to test their hypothesis.
Final sentence: The team of scientists was conducting experiments to test their hypothesis.
Hence, the chosen option will be correct.