English Grammar - Spotting Errors

English Grammar
English Grammar - Spotting Errors

Find the part of the sentence that contains an error.


Find the part of the sentence that contains an error:

What the committee failed to deliberate on adequately (1)/ were not the policy's objectives themselves, (2)/ but the political ramifications it (3)/ might have had if implemented without broader consensus. (4)

Options:

  1. (1)
  2. (2)
  3. (3)
  4. (4)

Right Answer: (2)

The subject of this sentence is the noun clause 'What the committee failed to deliberate on adequately'. A noun clause functioning as a subject is always singular and therefore takes a singular verb. Part two uses the plural 'were not', which does not agree with that singular subject and should read 'was not'. The plural noun 'objectives' sitting immediately after the verb is a deliberate distractor that tempts candidates towards the plural form. Parts one, three and four are grammatically sound. Hence the error lies in part two.

This question is part of English Grammar - Spotting Errors, which has 15 practice questions with answers.

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