English Grammar - Spotting Errors

English Grammar
English Grammar - Spotting Errors

Find the part of the sentence that contains an error (see description for the full four-part sentence).


That none of the representatives found the proposal viable (1)/ is less surprising than the fact (2)/ that neither the chairperson nor the legal counsel (3)/ were briefed beforehand. (4)

Options:

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

Right Answer: (4)

This sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error in part (4). The subject phrase 'neither the chairperson nor the legal counsel' follows the 'neither...nor' construction, where the verb must agree with the noun closer to it, which here is 'the legal counsel', a singular noun. Therefore, the correct verb should be 'was briefed', not 'were briefed'. Parts (1), (2), and (3) are grammatically correct: part (1) correctly uses 'found' with 'none', part (2) is a correct comparative phrase, and part (3) correctly introduces the neither-nor subject. Recognizing the proximity rule for neither-nor agreement is essential to spotting this error. The correct answer is option 4, part (4).

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

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