The demonstrations in Paris was marred by clashes between police offic

Question

The demonstrations in Paris  was marred by clashes between police officers  and bottle-throwing gangs of youths.

(A) was marred by clashes between police officers

(B) was marred by a clash among police

(C) were marred by clashes among police officers

(D) were marred by a clash between a police officer

(E) were marred by clashes between police officers

abhimahna · Answer

The demonstrations in Paris  was marred by clashes between police officers  and bottle-throwing gangs of youths.

(A) was marred by clashes between police officers -->  The word "Demonstrations" is plural hence "were" should be used.

(B) was marred by a clash among police -->  Same as A

(C) were marred by clashes among police officers -->  We are comparing two groups 1) Officers 2) Youths. Hence, Between should be used.

(D) were marred by a clash between a police officer -->  We are comparing officers with youths. Not a single officer with multiple groups.

(E) were marred by clashes between police officers -->  CORRECT

Abhishek009 · Answer

The  demonstrations  in Paris  were  marred by clashes  between police officers and bottle-throwing gangs of youths.

Correct answer must be (E) for the highlighted errors in other options...

sanjayparihar16 · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The original sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. The singular verb "was" does not agree with the plural subject "demonstrations."

(A) Incorrect, as it repeats the original sentence.
(B) This choice contains the same subject-verb agreement error as in choice (A). The singular “was” does not agree with the plural "demonstrations." Also, “a clash” changes the original meaning, as the original "clashes" suggested more than one clash at more than one demonstration. Finally, “among” is incorrect, as it should be used in reference to three or more entities. “Between” should be used for two entities or sets of entities: "police officers" and "bottle-throwing gangs."
(C) This choice corrects the subject-verb error; the plural “were” agrees with the plural “demonstrations.” However, “among” is incorrect, as it should be used in reference to three or more entities. “Between” should be used for two entities.
(D) This choice corrects the subject-verb error; the plural “were” agrees with the plural “demonstrations.” However, “a clash” and “a police officer” both make the intended meaning less clear and somewhat absurd. The original meaning was that there were multiple clashes at the multiple demonstrations, and that they involved more than one police officer opposing “gangs” of youths.
(E) CORRECT. This corrects the subject-verb agreement error. The plural “were” agrees with the plural ‘demonstrations.” The choice contains no other errors.

VerbalBot · Answer

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The demonstrations in Paris was marred by clashes between police offic

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The demonstrations in Paris was marred by clashes between police offic

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