Question

Fill in the blank with correct person of verb:
I ______ to the teacher.
a) speaks
b) Speak
c) speaking
d) None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Correct person of the verb means using a plural verb with a singular subject and a singular verb with a plural subject. For example, They sing the anthem every day. Because “they” refers to more than one person, the singular verb “sing” has been used. She draws very well. “She” is singular and “draws” is a plural verb. This rule does not apply to the singular person “I”.

Complete answer:
The correct answer is option b because it uses the word “speak”. Even though the subject is singular (I), the verb used will be singular. This is an exception to the person rule. We do not add “s” beside the verb when using it with the first person form.
Option a is the wrong answer because the first person rule is that we use the singular verb with a singular subject. With “I”, we use a singular verb (sing, dance, draw, etc.) and not a plural verb (sings, dances, draws, etc.).
Option c is wrong because ‘speaking’ needs a helping verb (am, is, are, etc.). We cannot use the main verb while using the -ing form of a verb.
Option d is obviously wrong because the correct answer is option b. Since an answer is already proven to be correct, option d becomes void.

Note:
 The singular person verb is an exception only for any sentence which has “I” as the subject. Apart from this, every singular subject uses a plural verb- she draws, he plays, they sing, they dance, etc. But if the subject is I then it becomes I dance, I play, I sing, etc.