<li>The series of letters that Margaret wrote to her father contains a valuable commentary onB the prevailing social conditions and attitudes that lead to her leaving home at such a young age. No Error</li>
</ol>
<p>A.
B.
C.
D.
E. </p>
<p>Ans: E</p>
<p>But since it is a “series of letters” shouldn’t the errorbe contain? (i.e The series of letters contain…"</p>
<p>The series is singular. The number is singular.
A series - possibly plural. A number - plural( im not sure if this can also be singular),but i think it can. but usually a number is plural because of the noun thingy follows it.
a number of scientists are... a number is determined plural by the scientists, so
ya</p>
<p>The--- singular
A--- plural.</p>
<p>No. A series would still be singular.</p>
<p>"The berries are yummy." --Now, of course berries is plural, because there's more than one berry. So just because there's a 'the' doesn't mean that it's singular.</p>
<p>If you use series to mean a single set of things, use a singular verb, even if it's followed by a plural noun-- "The series of letters" is singular because the "series" is a single set of letters. It's like a collection of letters.</p>
<p>If you use series to mean two or more sets of things, use a plural verb: Three series of meetings are planned for next summer.</p>
<p>Ren, the only exception is when you're using the word 'number.' Then what you're saying works.</p>
<p>The number of styles available is limited.</p>
<p>A number of styles are available.</p>
<p>Notice, however, that whether something is plural or not does NOT depend on the noun that follows it, as you said. When you said that "a number is determined plural by the scientists," that is FALSE. If that were true, then the sentence "The number of styles available is limited" would be incorrect, since "styles" is plural.</p>
<p>Whether something is plural or not DOES NOT DEPEND ON WHAT FOLLOWS IT. "A can of pencils IS red."</p>