Identify the part of the sentence which contains an error. Many of our staff /…
2020
Identify the part of the sentence which contains an error.
Many of our staff / find it difficult to / follow her as she / don't speak clearly.
Answer: A. don't speak clearly — Concept: A negative auxiliary must agree in person and number with its subject: plural subjects (and "I"/"you") take "don't", while a singular third-person…
- A.
don't speak clearly
- B.
find it difficult to
- C.
Many of our staff
- D.
follow her as she
Attempted by 6 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: A negative auxiliary must agree in person and number with its subject: plural subjects (and "I"/"you") take "don't", while a singular third-person subject (he/she/it, or a singular noun) always takes "doesn't", never "don't".
Application: The clause "as she don't speak clearly" has the singular third-person subject "she". Since "she" is singular, the auxiliary must be "doesn't", not "don't" — the phrase should read "doesn't speak clearly".
Cross-check: None of the other segments show an agreement, tense, or reference problem:
"Many of our staff" — "many of" gives the collective noun "staff" a plural sense, so a plural verb correctly follows.
"find it difficult to" — this verb phrase correctly agrees with that plural subject and is idiomatically standard.
"follow her as she" — the pronoun "she" clearly and correctly refers back to "her", the person already named in the clause.
Result: the error is the mismatched auxiliary — it should read "doesn't speak clearly", not "don't speak clearly".
Explore the full course: Iocl Engineers Officer Grade A Paper 1