Question

which sentence contains an error in subject-verb agreement? heart and soul is the name of my brother’s band. the walls or the ceiling are going to be painted beige. every student and teacher is looking forward to homecoming. the mayor and several city council members oppose the new parking restrictions

Answer 1

The sentence that contains an error in subject-verb agreement is: The walls or the ceiling are going to be painted beige. This sentence contains an error since the compound subject "walls and ceiling" are connected by the word "or". It is a general rule that when a compound subject is connected by "or", the closer subject should agree to the verb. Therefore, since ceiling is a singular word, the verb that should be used should also be singular which is "is".

Answer 2

Answer:

The walls or the ceiling are going to be painted beige.

Explanation:

Subject-verb agreement refers to the correspondence of a singular subject with a singular verb, or a plural subject with a plural verb. Thus, the correct version is the following:

The walls or the ceiling is going to be painted beige.

The verb must be singular (is) because its nearest subject is also singular (the ceiling). In fact, when in the subject two nouns are linked by or, neither or either, the verb must be singular if they are both singular, and plural if they are both plural. When one of the nouns is singular and the other is plural, the verb must agree in number with the closest one.