Question

Identify the part of the sentence that contains an error: 
"Neither the manager nor the employees ___ willing to accept the new policy."

• A. Neither the manager
• B. nor the employees
• C. willing
• D. to accept the new policy

Hint:

Tip: In “neither...nor...” constructions, verb agrees with the closer subject.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Explanation: The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. When "neither...nor" connects two singular subjects, the verb should match the subject closest to it. However, in this case, one subject is singular and the other is plural. Here is a breakdown of each component:

• Neither the manager
  
  : This segment is grammatically sound.
• nor the employees
  
  : This segment is also correct. "The employees" is a plural subject.
• willing
  
  : This segment is incorrect. It requires the auxiliary verb "are" to agree with the plural subject "the employees." The correct phrasing is "are willing."
• to accept the new policy
  
  : This segment is correct and requires no modification.

Consequently, the error lies in the "willing" segment. To achieve proper subject-verb agreement with the plural subject "the employees," it must be corrected to "are willing."