Is it maintain or maintains?
The judicious and policy-directed use of Tasers ensures that the instrument maintain (maintains) its status as a less-than-lethal weapon which has the power to immobilize assailants.
Since instrument is singular and the subject of the verb, then MAINTAINS is the correct form of the verb.
In this sentence, the correct word to use is "maintains." The subject of the sentence is "the instrument," which is singular. When the subject is singular, the verb should also be singular, so we use "maintains" instead of "maintain."
To determine whether to use "maintain" or "maintains," it's important to understand the subject-verb agreement rules. Singular subjects take singular verbs, while plural subjects take plural verbs. In this case, since "the instrument" is singular, we use the singular verb "maintains."
If you encounter similar questions in the future, you can determine the correct word by identifying the subject of the sentence and making sure the verb agrees with it in terms of singular or plural form.