Doubt on subject verb agreement..

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RC150: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 6; Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:23 am; Location: India

Doubt on subject verb agreement..

by RC150 » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:24 pm

Is this sentence correct->
A group of students, who have begun to study, believes that hardwork is nothing.
I am kind of confused whether it will be 'believe' or 'believes'.Also please explain whether 'have begun' is due to 'students' ,not considering the collective noun 'a group'?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:24 pm

Indradeep: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 117; Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:29 am; Location: Australia; Thanked: 4 times; Followed by:5 members; GMAT Score:760

by Indradeep » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:26 pm

It should be believes because group of students is singular

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RC150: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 6; Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:23 am; Location: India

by RC150 » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:31 pm

Then why it is 'have begun'?It should be 'has begun' if the subject is 'a group of students' and thus singular?

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mysticfireball: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 16; Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2008 9:02 pm; Thanked: 2 times

Re: Doubt on subject verb agreement..

by mysticfireball » Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:04 pm

RC150 wrote:Is this sentence correct->
A group of students, who have begun to study, believes that hardwork is nothing.
I am kind of confused whether it will be 'believe' or 'believes'.Also please explain whether 'have begun' is due to 'students' ,not considering the collective noun 'a group'?

Here is how to tackle this sentence. First remove the modifying clause:

A group of students believes that hardwork is nothing.

The verb believes refers to group.

Next, take a look at the modifying clause:

A group of students, who have begun to study

The verb here is modifying students. Also remember, modifiers always modify the noun directly before the comma.

Here you can see that you have two clauses and they are referring to two different nouns.