English Grammar - Sentence Completion

English Grammar
English Grammar - Sentence Completion

Select the correct option: So delicate ___ the negotiations that a single leak could derail them.


Options:

  1. are
  2. were
  3. is
  4. was

Right Answer: were

When a sentence begins with 'so' followed by an adjective, the subject and the verb are inverted, giving the pattern 'So delicate were the negotiations that...'. The subject here is 'the negotiations', which is plural, so the verb must also be plural, and this rules out 'is' and 'was'. The second half of the sentence uses 'could derail', a past form, so the verb in the first clause must also be in the past tense for correct sequence of tenses. This makes 'were' the only option that agrees in both number and tense. Hence 'were' is correct.

This question is part of English Grammar - Sentence Completion, which has 14 practice questions with answers.

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