Subject-Verb Agreement MCQ Quiz - Objective Question with Answer for Subject-Verb Agreement - Download Free PDF

The correct answer is Option 3.

Key Points

• Subject-Verb Agreement ensures that the verb agrees with the subject in both number and person.
• A singular subject requires a singular verb, and a plural subject requires a plural verb.
• Option 3 is incorrect because the verb is not determined solely by the word immediately preceding it. The actual subject of the sentence dictates the form of the verb, regardless of intervening words or phrases.
• For example: "The bouquet of flowers *is* on the table." Here, the subject "bouquet" (singular) determines the verb, not "flowers."
• Collective nouns (e.g., "team," "family") can take singular or plural verbs depending on whether the group acts as a single entity or as individuals.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option 3.

Additional Information

• Option 1 and Option 2 are correct as they describe the fundamental rules of subject-verb agreement.
• Option 4 is also correct because collective nouns can sometimes take either singular or plural verbs depending on the context.
• To avoid errors, always identify the true subject of the sentence and ensure the verb agrees with it in number.

Key Points

• The primary issue in the sentence is the incorrect usage of the auxiliary verb "do" with "flight."
• For subject-verb agreement in present tense, we should use "does" for singular subjects including "flight."
• The correct phrase should be "does their flight", ensuring grammatical correctness and clarity.
• Thus, the error is located in part B of the sentence.

Additional Information

• A: "What time" – This part of the sentence is grammatically correct and does not require any changes.
• C: "to Paris leave?" – This part of the sentence is grammatically correct and does not require any changes.
• No error – This would be the correct option if there were no mistakes in the sentence, but there is an error in part B.

The correct answer is '3' i.e. one of the first artist.

Key Points

• The segment "one of the first artist" in the sentence is grammatically incorrect because "artist" should be in its plural form "artists" after "one of the."
• When using "one of the," it is important to follow it with a plural noun to indicate that the subject is one among many.

Corrected Sentence: Raja Ravi Varma was one of the first artists who tried to create a style that was both modern and traditional.

Additional Information

• Subject-Verb Agreement: When using phrases like "one of the," the verb following the relative pronoun ("who" in this case) should agree with the plural noun that precedes it. In the corrected sentence, "who tried" matches the plural noun "artists."
• Collective Nouns: Similar rules apply to other collective phrases such as "one of the best," "one of the few," and "one of the many." The noun following these phrases should always be plural.

The correct answer is '2' i.e. maintain .

Key Points

• The given sentence uses the verb "maintain" incorrectly.
• The subject of the sentence, "Central bank," is singular.
• Therefore, the verb should be in the singular form, which is "maintains," not "maintain."

Correct sentence: Central bank maintains constant vigil on sector, individual banks.
Additional Information

• Subject-Verb Agreement:
  • Subjects and verbs must agree in number (singular or plural).
  • Singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs.

The correct answer is '3' i.e. mostly .

Key Points

• The word "most" is an adjective and is incorrectly used in this context. The sentence requires an adverb to modify the verb "occur".
• "Mostly" is the correct adverb to use with the verb "occur" to indicate the manner or extent to which something happens.

Correct sentence: Investigations have proved that ninety-five per cent of the spelling errors that educated people make occur mostly in a select one hundred words.

Additional Information

• Adjective vs. Adverb Usage:
  • Adjectives describe or modify nouns and pronouns. Example: "happy," "blue," "tall."
  • Adverbs describe or modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They often end in "-ly." Example: "quickly," "very," "well.".

The correct answer is 'want to'.

Key Points

• The given sentence is grammatically incorrect.
• Here, 'wants to' should be used instead of 'want to'.
• We know that after 'each, every, everyone, someone, nobody, one' a singular verb, singular noun, singular adjective, and a singular pronoun is used.
  • Example: Each student has come.
• Thus, the correct answer is Option 2.
   

Correct Sentence: Every curious child wants to rip open a toy. 

The erroneous part is 'and punished'.

Key Points

• ​In a compound sentence, both the auxiliary verbs and main verbs should be mentioned separately if they differ in number, form or voice.
• For example:
  • The criminal surrendered before the Judge and sent to prison. (incorrect)
  • The criminal surrendered before the Judge and was sent to prison. (correct)
• Similarly, in this context, the auxiliary verb and the main verb should be mentioned separately. Hence, 'was' must be placed before 'punished'.

Therefore, the correct answer is: He was late for school and was punished.

The correct option is option 3, i.e C.

Key Points

• The pronouns each, everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, somebody, nobody are singular and require singular verbs.
• Do not be misled by what follows after ‘of’.
• Here, ‘each’ is singular, so a singular verb must be used in the sentence for subject verb agreement.
• Hence, have must be replaced by singular verb 'has'.

The erroneous part is 'No one were'.

Key Points

• The given sentence is grammatically incorrect.
• Here, 'No one was' should be used instead of 'No one were'.
• ">The indefinite pronouns  ">anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody "> are always singular and, therefore, require singular verbs.
  • ">​E.X.- No one is interested in the game.
• Thus, the correct answer is Option 2.

​Note- We use no one, nobody, nothing and nowhere to refer to an absence of people, things or places. We use them with a singular verb

Correct Sentence: No one was present when I entered the hall. 

The error lies in part A. 

Key Points 

• Use 'men' instead of 'man'
• Rule: For "more than one" there can be the following structures.- 

1. More than one+Noun(singular)+verb(singular)  OR
2. More+Noun(plural)+than one+Verb(plural)

• In the given sentence 2nd structure is to be followed hence we shall use 'plural noun'- men instead of singular noun- 'man'

The correct sentence- More men than one were killed in the massacre.

​​Additional Information
Massacre- Killing a large number of people,
Synonym- carnage, bloodbath.

The erroneous part is (b) or 'are frustrated'.

Key Points 

• Part (b) or are frustrated is erroneous because there is a subject-verb disagreement in it. 
• Many a/an is a fixed expression used mainly in literary writing and newspapers.
• It is used to indicate a large number of something.
• However, it takes a singular noun, which can be followed by a singular verb.
• In the given sentence it is followed by the singular noun student but the plural linking verb 'are', making the segment incorrect. 
• Hence, option 2 is the correct answer. 
   

Correct sentence - Many a student  is frustrated because of unemployment.

Key Points

• In the given sentence, the error lies in the first part.
• The subject "Neetu" is singular, but the verb "have been" is plural.
• This creates a subject-verb agreement error.
• The correct verb form for "Neetu" would be "has been."
• The sentence should read: "Neetu has been waiting for me since 10 o'clock in the morning."

Hence, the correct answer is option 1.

The correct answer is 'Vary'.

Key Points

• The subject of the sentence is 'perception'. As 'perception' is singular in form, the verb that must agree with it must also be singular.
• 'vary' is a plural verb. Hence, the singular verb i.e 'varies' should be appropriate in this context.

Thus, the correct sentence is The perception of success varies from person to person.

Additional Information

The correct answer is C

Key Points

• 'The number of' refers to a definite number and always requires a singular helping verb.
  • It is of the form- The number of +noun (plural) +helping verb (singular)
• 'A number of' means something that is indefinite in number.
  • It is of the form- A+ number of (noun plural) + helping verb (plural)
• In the given sentence, were should be replaced by the singular form of verb i.e. was.

Hence the correct sentence is 'The number of people lined up for buying groceries was forty.'

Additional Information

• 'The' is an article used with a definite noun thus denoting a definite number while 'A' is an article used with an indefinite noun thus denoting an indefinite number.​

The correct answer is were ordered.

Key Points

• There are some uncountable nouns (followed by a singular verb) which don't take the articles 'a/an', many, few, and plural form:​
  • Furniture, scenery, luggage, temper, hair, knowledge, equipment, pottery, music, jewelry, etc.​
• Example:
  • ​The sceneries at my friend's house enchanted me.
  • The scenery at my friend's house enchanted me.
• As 'furniture' is an uncountable noun, 'was' will be used instead of 'were' in the part given in the 4th option.

Correct sentence: New furniture was ordered for the primary classes.

Additional Information

• The nouns given below seem plural in form but in actuality are singular:
  • ​news, billiards, summons, physics, measles, innings, etc.
• Example:
  • ​Physics is an interesting subject.