Common stocks, which are shares of ownership in a corporation, is the

Common stocks, which are shares of ownership in a corporation, is the most direct way to participate in the fortunes of a company.

SV pair number agreement error.

stocks - subj for which 'are' should be the verb.


A. is the most direct way to participate in the fortunes of a company
B. is the most direct way for participating in the fortunes of a company.
C. is the most direct way of participating in the fortunes of a company.
D. are the most direct way to participate in the fortunes of a company...............correct
E. are the most direct way for participating in the fortunes of a company.

D.
As A, B, C, all are singular.
And to participate is better use than for participating. So eliminate E

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MEANING: common stocks [plural]… are [plural] the most direct way TO PARTICIPATE.

Answer (D)

The first split is between "is" and "are"- i.e., singular vs plural. So, the first thing to determine is whether "Common stocks" is being treated in a singular or plural context. In such cases - i.e., for collective nouns - always check the non-underlined portion for clues. Here, in the non-underlined portion contains the plural reference "which..are.." to refer to "Common stocks". Hence the subject is being treated as a plural noun, and the verb must be plural. This eliminates A, B, and C

Between D and E - the main split is between "to participate" and "for participating". In general, all things being equal, whenever we have a split between to+verb form and [preposition] + "-ing" form, we prefer to go with the to+verb form, especially when we want to indicate a purpose/intent. This is because the "for + -ing" construction does not indicate purpose as precisely and/or directly as the to+verb form.

For example, consider this sentence:

John went to the office to complete/for completing his task : the to+verb form automatically sounds more intuitive and direct.

This eliminates option E, and leaves us with option D as the best answer.

Official Explanation

Correct Answer: D

The sentence has a plural subject, common stocks, therefore it needs the plural form of the verb: are.

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