The following sentence has been divided into four segments. One of them contains an error. Select the segment that contains the error from the given options.
Neither Smith / nor Rose / were in / the classroom.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. were in.
Error Concept: Subject-verb agreement with 'Neither...nor' constructions.
What is wrong:
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In sentences starting with “Neither...nor”, the verb should agree with the subject closer to it and is generally considered singular when referring to two singular nouns.
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Here, both Smith and Rose are singular, so the verb should be singular: “was”, not “were”.
Grammatical Concept:
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Correct: Neither Smith nor Rose was in the classroom.
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Incorrect: Neither Smith nor Rose were in the classroom.
Correct phrase / correction: was in
Final Sentence: Neither Smith nor Rose was in the classroom.
Hence, the chosen option will be correct.