Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option:
Yesterday, on the notice board outside the principal’s office, there ______ a list of the students selected for the quiz.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → was
Subject-verb agreement with “there”:
- In a sentence with “there was / there were”, the verb agrees with the noun that comes after it.
- That noun is “a list”, not “the students”. “A list” is singular, and “yesterday” shows the past. So the verb is was.
- Complete sentence: Yesterday, on the notice board outside the principal’s office, there was a list of the students selected for the quiz.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: were — Incorrect. “Were” is plural, but the noun after “there” is “a list”, which is singular. Example: There were ten names on the list.
Option 2: are — Incorrect. “Are” is plural, but the noun after “there” is singular. Example: There are two notice boards in our school.
Option 3: is — Incorrect. “Is” is singular, but it shows the present. The sentence is about the past (“yesterday”). Example: There is a new circular on the notice board today.