One of every two new businesses fail within two years.

Question

One of every two new businesses  fail  within two years.

(A) fail
(B) fails
(C) should fail
(D) may have failed
(E) has failed

I'm always confused with the "one of" - verb issue. When do we use plural or singular verbs in a sentence involving "one of..."? Can someone pls. explain. Thks!

nverma · Accepted Answer

Let me try..!!

a)One of every two students  is 
b)One of every two students  who are ..

c)One of every two cars  is ..
d)One of every two cars  that are ..

So, if we have any referent just before the verb, as in the case b) and d), we use plural verb. Otherwise singular..!!

achiever01 · Answer

IMO 'B'

"One of the" should be used in the following context:

(1) Subject: Singular

One of the boys  has  a computer.

(2) Predictive - Plural verb

He is one of the boys who  have  computer.

Whats OA?

mustdoit · Answer

Rule is

One + of + .... is singular

one + of + ..... + who/that is plural

SO answer here is B

GMATPill · Answer

The best way to think about this is to remove "new businesses" when you read it to yourself.

So it would be like this:

"one out of 2 fail/fails"

One out of 2 FAILS - that's (B).

So pick (B) and move on.

Hope that helps.

thevenus · Answer

+1 for (B)
 
ONE  of every two new business  FAILS within two years.

"....of every two new business...." prepositional phrase so "ignore the middleman"

qweert · Answer

One of every two new businesses  fail  within two years.

(A) fail -  Incorrect because one is singular and fail applies for plural  
(B) fails -  Correct 
(C) should fail -  Incorrect because it's future tense 
(D) may have failed -  Incorrect because it's past tense 
(E) has failed -  Incorrect because it's present perfect

azamatboden · Answer

Could someone please explain why the answer is not (E)?
Thanks

ShahadatHJ · Answer

Cos, the meaning of the sentence is more like  a fact , and we use simple present tense to indicate a fact. It is not a job/task that you have been doing for some time.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  azamatboden ,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe that we can help answer your doubt.

In this question, Option E is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense verb "has failed" to refer to a statement of fact. What this means is that the sentence does not describe an active action; it conveys information that is, as a rule, true. Consider the following sentence "The moon orbits the Earth."; here, we will not use the simple present continuous tense verb "is orbiting", even though the moon is presently and continuously orbiting the Earth, since this sentence conveys a fact or rule, information that is permanent in nature. Statements of fact and information that is permanent in nature are best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

VerbalBot · Answer

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One of every two new businesses fail within two years.

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One of every two new businesses fail within two years.

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