The audience in soccer matches are oftentimes hard to control.
a The audience in soccer matches are oftentimes
b The audience in a soccer match are often
c The audience in soccer matches is frequently
d The audience in soccer matches is sometimes
e An audience in a soccer match is often
OA C
Source: Economist Gmat
The audience in soccer matches are oftentimes hard to
This topic has expert replies
-
- Moderator
- Posts: 7187
- Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:43 pm
- Followed by:23 members
-
- Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2019 7:29 am
Subject/Verb agreement is one of the most commonly tested concepts in GMAT SC.
While "audience" is composed of a lot of people, it's actually SINGULAR. That's what's called a "collective noun" -- a group of individuals that functions as a single entity. Other examples of collective nouns would be: group, family, team, etc.
Because "audience" is singular, we can't use the plural verb "are". We need "is" instead. Eliminate (A) and (B). [Also, "in soccer matches" is a prepositional phrase, so it can't contain the subject....so "audience" is the subject that will get the verb "is".]
(E) makes it seem like we're talking about just 1 audience in 1 soccer match.
The only difference between (C ) and (D) is "frequently" vs. "sometimes". Both are grammatically correct, but "frequently" matches the *degree* that we had with "oftentimes" in the original sentence.
So the correct answer is (C).
While "audience" is composed of a lot of people, it's actually SINGULAR. That's what's called a "collective noun" -- a group of individuals that functions as a single entity. Other examples of collective nouns would be: group, family, team, etc.
Because "audience" is singular, we can't use the plural verb "are". We need "is" instead. Eliminate (A) and (B). [Also, "in soccer matches" is a prepositional phrase, so it can't contain the subject....so "audience" is the subject that will get the verb "is".]
(E) makes it seem like we're talking about just 1 audience in 1 soccer match.
The only difference between (C ) and (D) is "frequently" vs. "sometimes". Both are grammatically correct, but "frequently" matches the *degree* that we had with "oftentimes" in the original sentence.
So the correct answer is (C).
Gene Suhir
GMAT Score: 750
GMAT/GRE/LSAT Live Online Teacher
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
Use code BTG100 to get $100 off a full course
GMAT Score: 750
GMAT/GRE/LSAT Live Online Teacher
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
Use code BTG100 to get $100 off a full course