The following sentence has been split into four segments. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error.
The mother as well as the sons / were asked to appear / before the magistrate / for interrogation.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. were asked to appear.
- The subject of the sentence is "The mother as well as the sons," which is a compound subject.
- When the subject of the sentences is followed by phrases like ‘in addition to’, ‘along with’, ‘together with’, 'as well as' etc., the form of the verb is determined by the main subject, regardless of the number of nouns in the accompanying Phrase.
- Since the mother is the main subject here, the singular verb ‘was’ is used.
- 'As well as the sons' is the accompanying Phrase.
The corrected sentence should be: "The mother as well as the sons was asked to appear before the magistrate for interrogation."