Select the correct option: So delicate ___ the negotiations that a single leak could derail them.
- (a)are
- (b)were
- (c)is
- (d)was
Answer
Why
Correct — D. This card follows SSC's key, which marks was. Read the dispute note: the choice is contested.
The trigger is the fronted So delicate ... that. When so + adjective opens a result sentence, the verb be moves ahead of its subject, so the blank holds the verb and the negotiations is its subject.
The key takes the past tense, which matches could derail read as the past of can derail. Was is the past singular of be → option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)are — Are is present tense. The key takes the past tense, reading could derail as the past of can derail, so it sets the present forms aside.
- (b)were — Were is past, the same tense as the key's was, so tense does not separate them. The key marks the singular form, and the dispute note sets out why that choice is contested.
- (c)is — Is is present tense too. The key takes the past tense, so it sets is aside on the same ground as are.
Concept
Two rules meet in this blank.
Inversion: when so + adjective is moved to the front, be (or an auxiliary) comes before the subject. 'The wind was so strong that ...' becomes 'So strong was the wind that ...'.
Agreement: the verb still agrees with its subject when the subject comes after it. Find the subject after the verb, here the negotiations, and check its number before you choose.
The subject, the negotiations, is plural, and 'derail them' refers back to it as plural. Standard agreement therefore asks for a plural verb, and the keyed was is singular.
The response sheet marks was as SSC's key, and this card reproduces it. The agreement rule above is the one to carry into other questions.
Key facts
- When so + adjective begins a sentence, be or an auxiliary comes before the subject: 'So strong was the wind that the tent collapsed.'
- A verb agrees with its subject even when the subject follows the verb.
- Could is the past form of can, and it also expresses present possibility: 'a leak could derail the talks.'
Study next
Common traps
- Taking the fronted 'So delicate' as the subject and matching the verb to it
The same fronted so + adjective opens 19 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.12, 'So intense was the resistance', where the subject is singular and was agrees with it. The error there is keyed to segment (3).
Inversion after a negative adverb is tested at 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.7, 'Scarcely had the satellite deployed ___', keyed when.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.