Spot the error in the following sentence; if there is no error, mark (d). He asked (a) whether either of the brothers (b) were at home (c). No error (d)
- (a)He asked
- (b)whether either of the brothers
- (c)were at home
- (d)No error
Answer
C
Why
Correct — C, 'were at home'. 'Either' is singular and means 'one or the other', so it takes a singular verb — 'whether either of the brothers was at home'. The plural 'brothers' in the 'of'-phrase does not change the singular subject 'either'.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)He asked — Correct — the reporting clause 'He asked' is properly formed.
- (b)whether either of the brothers — Correct — 'whether' introduces the indirect question and 'either of the brothers' is well formed; the fault is the verb's number, not this phrase.
- (d)No error — There is a subject-verb agreement error ('were' should be 'was'), so 'No error' does not apply.
Concept
'Either' (and 'neither') as a subject is singular — 'either of the brothers was ...' — despite the following plural noun.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the correct sentence.
- (a)Neither of the answers are correct.
- (b)Neither of the answers is correct.
- (c)Neither of the answer is correct.
- (d)Neither of the answers were correct.
Answer(b) — 'Neither' is singular, so 'is'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Fill in the blank: 'Either of the roads ______ to the market.'
- (a)lead
- (b)were leading
- (c)leads
- (d)are leading
Answer(c) leads — 'Either' is singular.