Question

In the following sentence, one part of the sentence has an error. Find out that particular part and select the appropriate option. If there is no error in the sentence, choose E as your answer. The number of students (A)who has applied (B) for the scholarship (C)is increasing.(D)

• A. A
• B. B
• C. C
• D. D
• E. E

Hint:

A relative pronoun (who, which, that) takes a singular or plural verb depending on the noun immediately preceding it. "Students who have" is correct, even if the main subject of the sentence ("The number") is singular.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
This is a sentence correction/error detection problem. We need to check for grammatical errors in Subject-Verb agreement and the usage of relative pronouns.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:

The Core Subject: The main subject of the sentence is "The number of students".

Subject-Verb Agreement (Main Clause): Expressions like "The number of" are followed by plural nouns but take a singular verb. Here, "is increasing" correctly agrees with "The number". So, Part (D) is correct.

The Relative Clause: Part (B) contains the relative clause "who has applied". The relative pronoun "who" refers back to its antecedent, which is "students".

Error Identification: Since "students" is plural, the verb in the relative clause must also be plural to maintain agreement.
- Incorrect: "students who has applied"
- Correct: "students who have applied"

Nuance: Students (plural) are the ones applying. Therefore, the action of applying should be attributed to them in plural form.

Final Review: Part (A) is "The number of students" (Correct). Part (B) is "who has applied" (Incorrect - should be 'have'). Part (C) is "for the scholarship" (Correct). Part (D) is "is increasing" (Correct).

Step 3: Final Answer:
The error lies in part (B). The singular verb "has" should be replaced with the plural verb "have" to agree with the antecedent "students".