The Proto-Nilotic language, common ancestor of fifty-five African languages with similar linguistic properties, ________ like all protolanguages, hypo...

Sentence Structure

• The Proto-Nilotic language,
• common ancestor of fifty-five African languages
• with similar linguistic properties,
• [?],
• like all protolanguages,
• hypothetical:
• there's no direct evidence these ancestral languages actually existed.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

• 'The Proto-Nilotic language'
  • This is our subject - notice it's singular: "language" not "languages"

Then we get some extra information about it:

• 'common ancestor of fifty-five African languages with similar linguistic properties'
  • This describes what the Proto-Nilotic language is
  • It's set off by commas, giving us background information
  • Notice "fifty-five African languages" is plural, but this is INSIDE the description - it's not our main subject

Now here's where we need to fill in the blank:

• 'The Proto-Nilotic language ______'

Let's look at our choices:

• A. is,
• B. are,
• C. have been,
• D. were,

What do we notice?

• We need a verb that matches our subject "The Proto-Nilotic language"
• Our subject is singular (one language)
• Even though "fifty-five African languages" appears in between, that's just part of the description - it's not what needs to agree with the verb
• We need a singular verb that matches "language"

So we need A. is, - the singular present tense verb.

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

• 'like all protolanguages, hypothetical'
  • This is making a general statement about what protolanguages are
  • The Proto-Nilotic language IS hypothetical, just like all protolanguages
• Then the sentence explains what "hypothetical" means:
  • 'there's no direct evidence these ancestral languages actually existed'

The complete meaning: The Proto-Nilotic language (which is the common ancestor of fifty-five African languages) is hypothetical - like all protolanguages, there's no direct proof it actually existed.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Subject-Verb Agreement with Intervening Descriptive Phrases

When a descriptive phrase comes between the subject and verb (often set off by commas), the verb must still agree with the actual subject - not with nouns that appear in the descriptive phrase.

The pattern looks like this:

Example 1:

• The student, along with his three friends, is going to the game.
  • Subject: "The student" (singular)
  • Intervening phrase: "along with his three friends"
  • Verb: "is" (singular) - matches "student," not "friends"

Example 2:

• The box of chocolates sits on the table.
  • Subject: "The box" (singular)
  • Intervening phrase: "of chocolates" (plural)
  • Verb: "sits" (singular) - matches "box," not "chocolates"

In our question:

• Subject: "The Proto-Nilotic language" (singular)
• Intervening phrase: "common ancestor of fifty-five African languages with similar linguistic properties"
• Verb needed: "is" (singular) - matches "language," NOT "fifty-five African languages"

Strategy tip: When you see commas around a phrase between the subject and where the verb should go, mentally remove that phrase temporarily to check agreement:

• "The Proto-Nilotic language ______ hypothetical"
• Clearly needs "is" (singular)