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Question
In the following sentence, fill in the blank with a verb in agreement with its subject.
Man's happiness or misery _______ in his own hands.
In the following sentence, fill in the blank with a verb in agreement with its subject.
Man's happiness or misery _______ in his own hands.Open in App
Solution
The correct option is C Is
When a sentence uses 'or', we take the items mentioned as singular and when it uses 'and' we consider the items together and use a plural verb. So, options A) and D) can be eliminated. While making a general statement, we always use the simple present tense. So, option C) was is also incorrect and the correct answer is option B) is. In the given sentence, two singular subjects (Man's happiness and misery) are joined by 'or' and according to the subject-verb-agreement rule, we must use a singular verb and since the given statement is a general statement or a fact of life, we would need the verb to be in the present tense. That leaves us with the correct option: is.
When a sentence uses 'or', we take the items mentioned as singular and when it uses 'and' we consider the items together and use a plural verb. So, options A) and D) can be eliminated. While making a general statement, we always use the simple present tense. So, option C) was is also incorrect and the correct answer is option B) is. In the given sentence, two singular subjects (Man's happiness and misery) are joined by 'or' and according to the subject-verb-agreement rule, we must use a singular verb and since the given statement is a general statement or a fact of life, we would need the verb to be in the present tense. That leaves us with the correct option: is.
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