Question

Use the given verb in the appropriate form to complete the sentence.
What time _____ (the banks/close) in Britain?
A) Does the banks close
B) Do the bank closes
C) Do the banks close
D) Did the bank close

Answer 1

Hint: There is a set of rules known as the ‘Subject-Verb Agreement' rules, that one needs to be familiar with in order to answer this question. This rule states that when a noun is singular, then it is mandatory that we use a singular verb.


Complete answer:
To choose the correct option we shall check which of the following options follow the subject-verb agreement.
Option A) ‘Does the banks close’ – In this option, the helping verb ‘does’ is used with singular subjects, while the word ‘banks’ is a plural verb. The correct verb to be used with ‘banks’ is ‘do’. Thus, this option is incorrect.
Option B) ‘Do the bank closes’ – In this option, the helping verb is ‘do’ and it is used with plural nouns. But the noun here is ‘bank’ which is a singular noun. The correct verb should be ‘does’. Also, the main verb ‘closes’ is not used in an interrogative sentence. In an interrogative sentence we only use ‘close’. Thus, this option is incorrect.
Option C) ‘Do the banks close’ – In this option, the helping verb ‘do’ is used which is correct for the plural noun ‘banks’. Also, the main verb ‘close’ is in the correct form. Thus, this option is correct.
Option D) ‘Did the bank close’ – The verb ‘did’ can be used for either plural or singular nouns and hence it is correct. The main verb ‘close’ is also in the correct form. But when we use this in the given sentence it does not make proper sense. Thus, this option is incorrect.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (C) Do the banks close.

Note: When an indefinite pronoun is used in a sentence, we still have to see whether it is singular, plural or unspecific. For e.g. Each has its own set of rules. Here both ‘each’ and ‘has’ are singular. Another example can be, Both make a lot of mess in the house. Here ‘both’ and ‘make’ are both plural words. Words like ‘some’ can be used as both singular or plural.