Question

Fill in the blank with a verb that agrees with the subject and not with the complement:
Either of you ____ to be punished. [Advanced]

• A. are going
• B. have
• C. is going
• D. has going

Answer 1

The correct option is C is going

In order to fill in the blank with the most appropriate verb, we must understand the 'subject and verb agreement'. A subject is a person, thing, or a concept, in a sentence. A sentence always describes a person, thing or a concept and that is called 'subject' of the sentence. The rest of the sentence is a complement (which has the object in it). A subject and a verb should always agree in a sentence. If the subject is singular (example: Raj), the verb will also be singular (does). If the subject is plural (We), the verb will also be plural (do).

NOTE: 'Either' means any one. Hence, the subject of the sentence is singular.

Option A - 'Are going' is a plural verb and as the subject is singular, we can't use it here. Hence, option A is incorrect.

Option B - 'Have' is a plural verb and hence we can't use it here. Thus option B is incorrect.

Option D - 'Has going' is grammatically wrong, as we use either the past participle form of the verb, or 'been + participle form of the verb.' Hence, option D is incorrect.

Option C - 'Is going' is a singular verb which matches the tense as well as the subject of the given sentence. Hence, option C is the correct answer.

'Either of you is going to be punished.'