Question

Given below sentence. A part of each sentence is underlined which may contain an error. Replace the underlined part with the right choice
A body of volunteers have been organized

• A. A body of volunteer are
• B. A body of volunteer has been
• C. A body of volunteers were
• D. The volunteers are

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

To solve the given question, we need to identify the correct grammatical form in the context of subject-verb agreement. The key here is to recognize the subject of the sentence and match it with the correct verb.

1. The underlined portion of the sentence is: "A body of volunteers have been organized."
2. The subject of this sentence is "A body of volunteers." In terms of subject-verb agreement, the main focus should be on the noun "body," which is a singular noun.
3. Since "body" is singular, it requires a singular verb. Among the given options, we must find a phrase that correctly uses the singular form of the verb "to have" which is "has."
4. Let us evaluate the options:
   • Option 1: "A body of volunteer are" - Incorrect, as it uses "are," which is a plural verb.
   • Option 2: "A body of volunteer has been" - Correct, as it uses the singular verb "has" and maintains the singular form by using "volunteer" instead of "volunteers."
   • Option 3: "A body of volunteers were" - Incorrect, as it uses "were," a plural verb form, and "volunteers," making the sentence inconsistent in terms of singular/plural agreement.
   • Option 4: "The volunteers are" - Incorrect, as it does not reflect the original sentence structure and relies on "volunteers" as the subject, which changes the meaning.
5. Therefore, the correct answer is "A body of volunteer has been."

Conclusion: In subject-verb agreement, ensure that the verb corresponds to the main subject of the sentence. For phrases like "a body of," "a group of," etc., the noun determining the verb form is the one before "of."