Question

Choose the correct form of the verb to complete the sentence:
Neither the teacher nor the students ________ in the classroom.
A) Were
B) Was
C) Is
D) Been

Answer 1

Hint:Verbs are words that show an action (sing), occurrence (develop), or state of being (exist). Verbs can be described in different tenses depending on when the action is being performed.

Complete answer:
In this question, we have to give the correct form of the verb and get the meaningful sentence. So, to get the correct formation of the sentence it is very important to understand the subject verb agreement.
Subject verb agreement should agree with each other i.e. singular subject should be followed by a singular verb and when the subject is plural then verb should be in plural form.

Option A) Were – is the correct answer because ‘were’ is the plural form of the verb and it should be
used with plural subjects. The second subject in the sentence is plural, so, the use of ‘were’ is grammatically correct and this is the correct answer.

Option B) Was – is an incorrect answer because ‘was’ is the singular form of the verb and it is used with singular subject, but the subject in the given sentence is in the plural form. So, the use of ‘was’ is inappropriate in the blank and it is grammatically incorrect.

Option C) Is – is an incorrect answer because ‘is’ is a singular form of verb and used with singular subject. However, the sentence is in plural form so we need to fill the blank on the basis of subject verb agreement. So, the use of ‘is’ is incorrect in the sentence and this is an incorrect answer.

Option D) Been – is an incorrect answer because ‘been’ is used in perfect continuous tense. ‘Been’ can be used with singular and plural form of verb as well as singular and plural subject, and is accompanied by a helping verb which is missing here. Thus, the use of been here in the sentence is inappropriate and this is an incorrect answer.

Hence, the correct answer is Option ‘A’.

Note: In such questions where we have to choose the correct verb, it is very important to understand subject verb agreement. Neither – nor are conjunctions used in the sentence. Conjunctions are the connectors used in joining sentences or clauses. Thus, option A is the best fit as compared to any other option because the sentence is in the plural form so, verb and subject should also be in plural form.