Question

Spot the error in the following sentence.

Neither the mathematics department nor the economics department at the State University require that the students must write a thesis to be awarded a Master's Degree.

• A. Neither...nor
• B. require
• C. must
• D. a Master's Degree

Hint:

In "neither...nor" sentences, the verb agrees with the subject closer to it.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

This sentence uses the "neither...nor" construction to join two subjects, and we have to check if the verb correctly agrees with them.

1. Neither...nor: This is the correct correlative conjunction pair for joining two singular subjects here. No error in the construction itself.
2. require: With "neither A nor B", the verb must agree with the subject closer to it, which is B, "the economics department". Since "the economics department" is singular, the verb should be the singular "requires", not the plural "require". This is the error.
3. must: This modal verb is used correctly to show an obligation, that students have to write a thesis. No error here.
4. a Master's Degree: This phrase is correctly used as the object of "to be awarded". No error here.

The fault lies in "require", which breaks subject-verb agreement with the nearer singular subject "the economics department". It should be "requires".

Let's summarize:

• In "neither A nor B" sentences, the verb agrees with B, the subject nearer to it.
• "The economics department" is singular, so the verb must also be singular, "requires".

So the incorrect word is "require", making option (b) the correct answer.