WAEC 2013 English Language · Question 79

One of the clever pupils … able to solve the problem.

Question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes the sentence below. One of the clever pupils .....able to solve the problem.

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

Answer: B. was

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question The sentence is: "One of the clever pupils ..... able to solve the problem." We need the verb that agrees with the subject.

Explain the concept: subject-verb agreement When a sentence has the structure "One of the + plural noun," the real subject is "One", which is singular. The phrase "of the clever pupils" only describes which one. It is not the subject, so the plural noun "pupils" must not decide the verb.

Step-by-step solution

Find the subject: One (singular).
Ignore the phrase "of the clever pupils".
Check the options: • A. can: this is a modal verb and does not fit grammatically before "able to" (we would not say "can able to"). • B. was: singular and past tense, so it agrees with "one" and fits the meaning. • C. were: plural, so it is wrong. • D. are: plural, so it is wrong.

The correct sentence is: One of the clever pupils was able to solve the problem.

Answer: B (was)

Exam tip Whenever you see "one of the...", "each of the...", or "everyone of the...", the verb is singular. Cross out the "of ..." phrase and ask what the verb needs to agree with. In this case, "One ... was".

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