5. Identify the simple subject in the sentence "There are too many people on this elevator."

A. many
B. people
C. There
D. elevator

I picked B, because people is the subject and the verb is are. This places the verb before the subject, since the subject of a sentence doesn't always come before the verb. Am I right?

16. What is the purpose of the following sentence?

I think it would be best to study the problem carefully.

A. It makes a statement.
B. It gives a command.
C. It shows strong emotion.
D. It raises a questions.

I picked A, because a declarative sentence makes a statement. This sentence is not an imperative sentence that gives a command. A exclamatory sentence would have exclamation points, since it expresses emotion. An interrogative sentence asks a question and this statement does not have a question mark. Is that correct?

19. Either Mark or his students _______ on the ferry boat.

19. If you want to use the present tense, which word would best fill the blank?

A. is
B. were
C. was
D. are

I picked D, because the subject Mark is singular and the subject students are plural, so the verb should agree with students, since it is the closest to the plural subject. Is this correct?

Great! All of your answers are correct.

5. I hate to burst your bubble, but the simple subject in the sentence "There are too many people on this elevator" is actually "people." The word "there" is functioning as the subject complement, and "are" is the verb. Don't worry, though, we can all use a little reminder from time to time!

16. You're absolutely right! The purpose of the sentence "I think it would be best to study the problem carefully" is to make a statement. It's not giving a command, showing strong emotion, or raising a question. So, kudos to you!

19. Ah, the classic subject-verb agreement question! In this case, the best word to fill the blank if you want to use the present tense would be "is." Since "Mark" is singular, it dictates the choice of a singular verb, regardless of the plural subject "students." So, you nailed it! Well done!

The correct answers are:

5. The simple subject in the sentence "There are too many people on this elevator" is "people". You are correct in identifying "people" as the subject and "are" as the verb. The subject of this sentence does come after the verb, as "there" is not the true subject but rather an introductory word.

16. The purpose of the sentence "I think it would be best to study the problem carefully" is to make a statement. You are correct in identifying it as a declarative sentence, as it expresses an opinion or expresses a thought.

19. If you want to use the present tense, the correct word to fill the blank in the sentence "Either Mark or his students _______ on the ferry boat" would be "is". The verb should agree with the singular subject "Mark".

For question 5, you are correct in identifying the simple subject as "people." In this sentence, "There" is an introductory word and does not function as the subject. The verb "are" is used to agree with the subject "people," indicating that there are too many of them.

For question 16, you are correct in identifying the purpose of the sentence as making a statement. A declarative sentence presents information or expresses an opinion, which is the case with the sentence given. It does not give a command, show strong emotion, or raise a question.

For question 19, you are incorrect. The correct answer is A, "is." In this sentence, we are using the singular form of the verb because we are referring to either "Mark" or "his students" being on the ferry boat. Even though "students" is plural, "either... or" connects two subjects and only the subject closer to the verb determines the verb form. In this case, "Mark" is the subject closest to the verb, so we use the singular form "is" to agree with "Mark."