The team captain, as well as his players, ____ anxious.

Question: The team captain, as well as his players, ____ anxious.

Choices: ['is', 'am', 'are', 'being']

Correct Answer: 'is'

<h2>Explanation:</h2>

To determine the correct verb to fill in the blank, it's imperative to understand the rules governing subject-verb agreement in English grammar. Here's a comprehensive breakdown:

<h3>Subject-Verb Agreement:</h3>

In English, the verb must agree with the subject in number and person. This means:

• If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular.

• If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural.

<h4>Analyzing the Sentence:</h4>

The sentence in question is: The team captain, as well as his players, ____ anxious.

Let us break down the subject and verb agreement here:

Main Subject: "The team captain"

Supplementary Information: "as well as his players"

<h4>Key Points to Consider:</h4>

1. The phrase "as well as his players" is a parenthetical clause providing additional information about the main subject but does not change the number or the person of the main subject.

2. In grammatical terms, the parenthetical clause "as well as his players" is not the subject of the sentence. The subject remains "The team captain".

3. Since "The team captain" is a singular noun, the verb that agrees with it must also be singular.

<h4>Correct Verb Agreement:</h4>

Therefore, the correct form of the verb should be singular to match the singular subject "The team captain". The singular form of the verb from the given choices is 'is'.

<h3>Conclusion:</h3>

The correct answer to the question "The team captain, as well as his players, ____ anxious." is 'is' because the verb must agree with the singular subject "The team captain", despite the additional information provided by the phrase "as well as his players".

For further reading on subject-verb agreement, reference the rule discussed on Grammarly's Subject-Verb Agreement Guide or other authoritative grammar sources.