Question

Identify the part of the sentence that contains an error: 
"Neither the manager nor the employees ___ willing to accept the new policy."

• A. Neither the manager
• B. nor the employees
• C. willing
• D. to accept the new policy

Hint:

Tip: In “neither...nor...” constructions, verb agrees with the closer subject.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Explanation: The error in the sentence is related to subject-verb agreement. In English grammar, the rule is that when two singular subjects are connected by "neither...nor", the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Here is the analysis of each option:

• Neither the manager
  
  : This part is correctly written.
• nor the employees
  
  : This part is also correct. "The employees" is a plural subject.
• willing
  
  : This part is incorrect because it is missing the auxiliary verb "are" to agree with the plural subject "the employees". The correct verb form should be "are willing".
• to accept the new policy
  
  : This part is also correct and does not require any changes.

Therefore, the error is in the section "willing", where the verb form should be modified to "are willing" to ensure proper subject-verb agreement with the plural subject "the employees".

Answer 2

Step 1: Subject-verb agreement with “Neither...nor...” 
When subjects are connected by “neither...nor...”, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.

Step 2: Identify subject nearest to the verb 
“employees” is plural, so the verb should be plural.

Step 3: Correct the verb 
“willing” should be replaced with “are willing” to maintain agreement.

Step 4: Hence error is in part (C).