Select the most appropriate option that can substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence.
What are there reasons for refusing the offer?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is option 2 i.e. “are their reasons”.
Correct usage of “there” vs. “their”
The underlined segment in the original sentence “What are there reasons…?” mistakenly uses “there”, which usually indicates a place or existence (like “There are many books”).
Here, we need the possessive “their” to show ownership—i.e. reasons that belong to “them” (the subject).
Subject–Verb Agreement
The sentence is a question using “What are ___ reasons…?”, so it correctly pairs “are” with the plural noun “reasons.”
That makes “are their reasons” the grammatically proper form.
Why the other options are incorrect:
Option 1 (“is their reasons”): Fails subject–verb agreement—“is” should be used with singular nouns, but “reasons” is plural.
Option 3 (“are there reason”): Uses “there” instead of “their”, and “reason” is singular while “are” demands a plural noun.
Option 4 (“is there reasons”): Combines the wrong pronoun (“there”) and singular verb form (“is”) with a plural noun (“reasons”).