Standard English ConventionsVery hardVerb form: subjunctive mood
Standard English Conventions practice question
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? The committee recommended that each applicant ____ two letters of reference with the form.
- A. submits
- B. submitCorrect
- C. submitted
- D. submitting
Answer: B. submit
After verbs of recommendation or demand, the subordinate clause uses the base-form subjunctive: 'each applicant submit'. The indicative 'submits' (A) ignores the subjunctive triggered by 'recommended that', and 'submitting' (D) is not a finite verb.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. submits
- 'Recommended that' triggers the subjunctive, which uses the base form 'submit' — the indicative '-s' ending doesn't apply here even though 'each applicant' is singular.
- C. submitted
- The past tense doesn't work in this clause: after 'recommended that', the verb stays in its base form 'submit' regardless of the tense of the main verb.
- D. submitting
- 'Submitting' is a participle, not a finite verb, so the clause 'that each applicant submitting...' has no working predicate.
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