Question 116·Medium·Form, Structure, and Sense
During the renovation, neither the lead architect nor the subcontractors ____ prepared for the extent of the water damage revealed behind the walls.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For subject-verb agreement questions, first locate the real subject and any constructions like "neither...nor" or "either...or"—the verb must agree with the part of the subject closest to it. Then, use time clues (like "during," past events, or other past-tense verbs) to decide the correct tense. Once you know both number (singular/plural) and tense (past/present), quickly eliminate any options that do not match on both counts.
Hints
Find the subject near the blank
Look closely at the phrase around the blank: which words form the subject of the sentence, and which part of that subject is closest to the blank?
Use the "neither...nor" rule
In constructions with "neither...nor," the verb usually agrees in number (singular/plural) with the noun that comes right before the verb. Decide if that nearby noun is singular or plural.
Match the tense to the time signal
The sentence begins with "During the renovation" and includes "prepared." Does this suggest a present-time or past-time situation? Choose the option that matches both the subject’s number and this time frame.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the sentence and time frame
Read the whole sentence: it describes something that happened "During the renovation" and uses the past participle "prepared" after a linking verb. This tells you the sentence is talking about the past, so the missing verb should also be in the past tense.
Identify the true subject of the verb
The subject is a compound subject: "neither the lead architect nor the subcontractors." With "neither...nor," the verb agrees with the part of the subject that is closest to the verb. Here, the noun closest to the blank is "subcontractors."
Decide whether the verb should be singular or plural
"Subcontractors" is plural, so the verb that follows must also be plural. We now know the correct verb must be plural and in the past tense to match both the subject and the time frame.
Match the correct choice to the needed verb form
Check each option: "was" (singular past), "is" (singular present), and "are" (plural present) do not fit a plural subject in past time. The only option that is both plural and past tense is "were," so the correct answer is B) were.