Choose the sentence that demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement with a collective noun.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. The committee has submitted its formal evaluation report to the dean
- Step 1: In academic English, a collective noun acting as a single unified entity takes a singular verb and singular pronoun.
- Step 2: 'Committee' is treated as a singular unit, so it correctly pairs with the singular auxiliary 'has submitted' and possessive 'its'.
Answer
The committee has submitted its formal evaluation report to the dean.
Why not the others: 'The committee have submitted its formal evaluation report to the dean' mixes plural verb 'have' with singular pronoun 'its'; 'The committee has submitted their formal evaluation report to the dean' mixes singular verb 'has' with plural pronoun 'their'; 'The committee are submitting its formal evaluation report to the dean' mixes plural verb 'are' with singular 'its'.
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