Select the most appropriate option that can substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence.
There are being several psychological theories that aid the diagnosis of a mental disorder or illness.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is option 4 i.e. are several.
The phrase “There are several psychological theories…” uses “there are” + plural noun phrase, which is the grammatically correct way to express the existence of multiple items. The subject here is “several psychological theories”, which is plural, so “are” is the appropriate verb form.
Let’s see why the other options are incorrect:
have being several: This is grammatically incorrect because the construction “have being” does not make sense in English grammar.
are severally: “Severally” means individually or separately, and does not equal “several”. Also, the phrase would be awkward and incorrect in context.
is several: “Is” should only be used with a singular noun. Since “theories” is plural, using “is” is incorrect here.