sc: Insist vs insists

by **Xins** Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:49 pm

Her brother along with her parents insist that she remain in school
1. insist
2. insists
3. are insisting
4. were insisting
5. have insisted

OA is B I marked A . Can you help?

From Barrons.

by **Guest** Mon Nov 10, 2008 9:56 am

"Her brother" is singular and requires a singular verb. "Along with" does not constitute a plural subject - if this had been "and" then insist would have been correct.

by **Xins** Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:36 am

thanks!

by **esledge** Sun Nov 30, 2008 4:30 pm

Guest is right, thanks!

You would often see commas around the prepositional phrase:
Her brother, along with her parents, insists that she remain in school.

The commas emphasize Guest's point that her brother is the singular subject of the sentence, though the commas are not the reason we must regard the subject as singular. ONLY "and" makes a plural subject. Any other words (along with, together with, in addition to, etc.) don't do the job.