The manuscript that _____ the most elaborate illustrations in the museum's collection dates back to the 15th century.

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• The manuscript
• that _____ the most elaborate illustrations
• in the museum's collection
• dates back to the 15th century.

Understanding the Meaning

This sentence is telling us about a particular manuscript:

• 'The manuscript'
  • This is what the sentence is about.

Now we get more detail about WHICH manuscript:

• 'that _____ the most elaborate illustrations in the museum's collection'
  • This part is describing the manuscript - telling us something special about it.
  • It relates to illustrations that are "the most elaborate" ones in the museum's collection.

Now here's where we need to fill in the blank: 'that _____ the most elaborate illustrations.'

Let's look at our choices:

• The choices vary between singular and plural verb forms, and different tenses.
• We need to figure out what the subject is within this 'that' part.

What's the subject here?

• The word 'that' is standing in for 'the manuscript'
  • So we're really saying: the manuscript [does something to] the most elaborate illustrations
  • 'The manuscript' is singular
  • So 'that' is also singular
• What about 'illustrations'?
  • That's what the manuscript has - it's what receives the action
  • It's not doing the featuring; it's being featured
  • So 'illustrations' is the object, not the subject

So we need a singular verb to match 'that' (which refers to 'manuscript'): features

Now let's read the rest to see the complete picture:

• 'dates back to the 15th century'
  • This is the main point of the sentence - telling us how old this manuscript is.

What do we notice about the structure here?

• Within the describing part ('that _____ the most elaborate illustrations'), we have:
  • A subject: 'that' (referring to 'the manuscript' - singular)
  • A verb: needs to match that singular subject
  • An object: 'the most elaborate illustrations' (plural)
• The key is that the verb must match its subject ('that'/'manuscript'), not the object ('illustrations').

So we need features - the singular form that matches the singular subject.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Subject-Verb Agreement with Relative Clauses and Intervening Words

When a relative clause (a descriptive part starting with words like "that" or "which") contains a verb, that verb must agree with its subject - not with other nouns that might appear nearby. The subject is what's doing the action; the object is what's receiving the action.

Pattern:

• Subject: The manuscript
• Relative clause with its own subject and verb: that features (singular verb) illustrations (object)
• Main verb: dates back

Key principle:

• Within "that features the most elaborate illustrations"
  • "that" = subject (refers to "manuscript" - singular)
  • "features" = verb (must be singular to match subject)
  • "illustrations" = object (what's being featured)

Why students get tricked:

• The plural noun "illustrations" appears right next to the blank
• It's tempting to make the verb plural to match "illustrations"
• BUT "illustrations" is not the subject - it's the object
• The manuscript is doing the featuring; the illustrations are being featured

In this question:
The word "that" refers back to "the manuscript" (singular), so even though the plural word "illustrations" appears nearby as the object, the verb must be singular: "features."