In the following question, one part of the sentence may have an error. Find out which part of the sentence has an error and click the option corresponding to it. If the sentence is free from error, click the ‘No error’ option. The students, the teachers and the principal was angry (A)/ about the removal of the zebra crossing lines (B)/ in front of the main gate. (C)/ No error (D)?

Option 1 : A

The correct option is 'A', i.e the error lies in this part of the sentence.

•  The error lies in the incorrect usage of the auxiliary verb 'was'.
• The subject of the sentence i.e. 'The students, the teachers and the principal' is a compound subject.
• The compound subject is plural when it is connected with 'and' therefore, will always require a plural verb according to subject-verb agreement.
• Thus, 'was' needs to be replaced with 'were'.

Therefore, the correct sentence is: 'The students, the teachers and the principal were angry about the removal of zebra crossing lines in front of the main gate.'

• Subject-verb agreement: It states that if the subject is singular then the corresponding verb will also be singular and if the subject is plural then the corresponding verb will also be plural.
  • Example:
    • He is going to play cricket.
    • They are going to play cricket.
• Compound Subject- A compound subject is a subject made up of two or more simple subjects that are joined by a coordinating conjunction (such as 'and' or 'or') and that have the same predicate.