Question:
Identify the segment in the sentence which contains a grammatical error:
Neither the principal nor the teachers was aware of the structural damage caused to the school laboratory.
Neither the principal nor the teachers was aware of the structural damage caused to the school laboratory.
वाक्य के उस भाग की पहचान करें जिसमें व्याकरण संबंधी त्रुटि है:
Neither the principal nor the teachers was aware of the structural damage caused to the school laboratory.
Neither the principal nor the teachers was aware of the structural damage caused to the school laboratory.
Options:
- nor the teachers was aware
- Neither the principal
- of the structural damage
- caused to the school laboratory
- nor the teachers was aware
- Neither the principal
- of the structural damage
- caused to the school laboratory
Correct Answer: a)
Explanation:
When subjects are joined by ‘neither… nor’ or ‘either… or’, the verb must agree in number with the subject closest to it (proximity rule). Here, the closest subject to the verb is ‘teachers’ (plural). Therefore, the singular verb ‘was’ must be replaced by the plural verb ‘were’. Correct segment: ‘nor the teachers were aware’.
जब दो कर्ता ‘neither… nor’ से जुड़े होते हैं, तो क्रिया (verb) अपने निकटतम कर्ता के अनुसार आती है। यहाँ ‘teachers’ बहुवचन है, अतः ‘was’ के स्थान पर ‘were’ होना चाहिए।