Read each sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical or idiomatic…
2023
Read each sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is ‘No error’, the answer is (e). (Ignore errors of punctuation, if any).
The cell’s nucleus is like (A)/ the conductor of a huge (B)/ opera who tell all the (C)/ performers what to do (D)/.
- A.
A
- B.
B
- C.
C
- D.
D
- E.
No Error
Attempted by 6 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
A verb must agree with its subject in number. When a relative clause (introduced by who / which / that) describes a noun, the verb inside that clause must match the number of the noun it refers back to: a singular antecedent takes a singular verb (he tells), a plural antecedent takes a plural verb (they tell).
Application
Identify the antecedent of the relative pronoun ‘who’, then check the verb that follows it:
The noun being described is “the conductor of a huge opera”. The head noun is “conductor” — singular.
‘who’ therefore refers back to the singular ‘conductor’ (not to ‘performers’ or ‘opera’), so its verb must be singular.
The sentence uses the plural form “tell” (“who tell all the…”). A singular subject needs “tells”.
Correction: “…the conductor of a huge opera who tells all the performers what to do.” The grammatical error lies in the segment “opera who tell all the”.
Cross-check
Replace the clause with a simple pronoun to hear the agreement: “the conductor … he tells” sounds right, while “he tell” does not. This confirms the singular verb ‘tells’ is required, so the segment containing ‘tell’ carries the error.