16Hit1600
Standard English ConventionsVery hardAgreement with an inverted subject

Standard English Conventions practice question

Among the papers recovered from the flooded archive ____ a set of letters written by the town's first schoolmistress.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

  1. A. wasCorrect
  2. B. were
  3. C. have been
  4. D. are

Answer: A. was

The subject is "a set", which follows the verb; it is singular.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. were
"were" agrees with "papers" or "letters", neither of which is the subject.
C. have been
Plural.
D. are
Plural.

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