Usage 2 Flashcards

The committee have reached a decision after hours of careful deliberation. No error.

Answer: have reached

'Committee' is a collective noun treated as singular in American English, so the verb should be 'has reached,' not 'have reached.' The rest of the sentence is grammatically sound.

Exhausted from the long climb, the hikers laid down to rest beneath the shade of a towering pine. No error.

Answer: laid

'Laid' is the past tense of the transitive verb 'lay,' which requires a direct object. To rest without an object requires the intransitive verb 'lie,' whose past tense is 'lay.' The sentence should read 'lay down.'

Between you and I, the presentation could have been far more engaging. No error.

Answer: I

'Between' is a preposition, so its object must be in the objective case. 'I' is a subject pronoun; the correct form here is 'me.' The phrase should read 'Between you and me.'

She spoke to each of the volunteers individually before the ceremony begun. No error.

Answer: begun

'Begun' is the past participle of 'begin' and requires a helping verb (e.g., 'had begun'). As a simple past-tense verb in this clause, the correct form is 'began.'

He should of reviewed his notes more carefully before the comprehensive exam. No error.

Answer: should of

'Should of' is a phonetic misspelling of the modal phrase 'should have.' 'Of' is a preposition and cannot serve as an auxiliary verb. The correct form is 'should have reviewed.'

The principal, along with several teachers, were honored at the annual awards ceremony. No error.

Answer: were

Phrases introduced by 'along with,' 'as well as,' or 'together with' are parenthetical and do not change the number of the subject. 'Principal' is singular, so the verb should be 'was,' not 'were.'