Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. Positive self-talk have a great affect on one’s self-worth.

Correct — B. Two things are wrong in the underlined part, and the substitute has to repair both.

Positive self-talk is a singular uncountable subject, so the verb is has, not have.

And a great ___ is a noun slot: the noun is effect, meaning the result. Affect is the verb, meaning to influence. Only option (b) fixes the agreement and the spelling together.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  having a great affect — 'Having' is a participle, not a finite verb, so the clause would be left with no main verb — and it still spells the noun affect.
• (c)
  has a great affect — Fixes the agreement but keeps affect in a slot that follows the article and adjective 'a great', where only a noun can stand.
• (d)
  have a great effect — Fixes the spelling but leaves the plural have with the singular subject 'Positive self-talk'.

Affect is normally a verb meaning to influence. Effect is normally a noun meaning the result. The quickest test is the slot: a word that follows a determiner or adjective — a, the, no, great — has to be the noun, effect.

The second fault is agreement. 'Self-talk' is an uncountable noun naming an activity, so it behaves as singular and takes has.

Each wrong option here repairs exactly one of the two faults, which is why checking only the error you noticed first sends you to a wrong answer.

Key facts

• Affect is normally the verb, to influence, and effect normally the noun, the result.
• A determiner or adjective in front — 'a great ___' — marks a noun slot, so effect belongs there.
• Self-talk is uncountable and singular, so it takes has.

Common traps

• Fixing the homophone and forgetting the agreement, or the reverse — options (c) and (d) are each built on one half-repair.
• Reading 'self-talk' as plural because 'talk' can be a countable noun elsewhere.

No directly related past PYQ was found.