Form, Structure, and Sense Flashcards

The committee of five members _______ meeting every Tuesday to review the proposals.

Answer: is

'Committee' is a collective noun treated as singular in American English, so it takes the singular verb 'is.'

By the time the investigators arrived, the suspect _______ the building.

Answer: had left

'Had left' (past perfect) is correct because the suspect's departure occurred before the investigators' arrival—an earlier past action.

Each of the students in the advanced class _______ required to submit an original research paper.

Answer: is

'Each' is an indefinite pronoun that is always singular, so it takes the singular verb 'is.'

The report noted that neither the manager nor the employees _______ aware of the policy change.

Answer: were

With 'neither…nor,' the verb agrees with the nearer subject; 'employees' is plural, so 'were' is correct.

Serena handed the invitation to both Marcus and _______.

Answer: them

After a preposition ('to'), object pronouns are required; 'Marcus and them' uses the correct object-case pronoun.

The athlete who wins the most medals _______ recognized at the closing ceremony.

Answer: is

The subject 'athlete' is singular, so the singular verb 'is' is correct; the relative clause 'who wins the most medals' does not change the subject.

Running along the coastal path, _______ spotted a family of dolphins in the water.

Answer: the hiker

'The hiker' is the only option that correctly makes the participial phrase 'running along the coastal path' refer to a person capable of running and spotting.