Parts of the following sentence are given as options. Identify the part that contains a grammatical error. If there is no error, choose ‘No error’.
Neither the shopkeeper nor his helpers / were aware of / the new parking rules in the market.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → No error
“Were” may look wrong, but it is right. When two subjects are joined by “neither ... nor”, the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it. Here the nearer subject is “his helpers”, which is plural. It takes the plural verb were, so the sentence has no error.
Option 1: Neither the shopkeeper nor his helpers — No error. “Neither” is rightly paired with “nor”.
Option 2: were aware of — No error. “Were” agrees with “his helpers”, the subject just before it.
Option 3: the new parking rules in the market — No error. “The” is right because these are particular rules, the new ones for this market.