The quality of the pens.........not good.(was/were)
The quality of the pens was not good.
Was,. Because it talks about all the pens singularly
The answer should be was as the "quality" denotes a singular meaning.
To determine whether to use "was" or "were" in the given sentence, we need to consider the subject of the sentence. Since the subject is "quality," which is a singular noun, we should use the singular form, "was."
Therefore, the correct sentence would be:
"The quality of the pens was not good."
If you are unsure about whether to use "was" or "were" in other sentences, you can follow these steps:
1. Identify the subject of the sentence. The subject is typically the noun or noun phrase that the verb refers to.
2. Determine whether the subject is singular or plural. If the subject refers to one person, thing, or concept, it is singular. If it refers to more than one, it is plural.
3. Use "was" when the subject is singular and "were" when the subject is plural.
By following these steps, you can accurately determine whether to use "was" or "were" in similar sentence constructions.
The verb must agree with the subject.
Subjects can never be in a prepositional phrase.
What is the subject?
Is it singular or plural?