Which word should replace the underlined word? “Neither my brother nor my cousins [likes] spicy food.”
Use Standard Grammar, Usage, and Spelling to Edit · TELPAS Grades 6–7 writing. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Reporting category 2: find and fix an error in a short text. On the real test some of these are typed answers or sentence rewrites. Here they are multiple choice so they can be checked.
The question
Read the sentence. The underlined part has an error.
Neither my brother nor my cousins [likes] spicy food. Which word should replace the underlined word?
- is liking
- likeCorrect answer
- likeing
- liking
Why “like” is correct
This tests subject–verb agreement with a compound subject joined by "neither...nor." With neither/nor (and either/or), the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Here that is "cousins," which is plural, so the verb is "like."
Why the other answers are wrong
- is liking — "Is" is singular and does not agree with "cousins."
- likeing — This is a misspelling of "liking," and it would still not work as the main verb.
- liking — "Liking" is not a complete verb by itself, so the sentence would have no main verb.
Practice more of this
More writing practice for Grades 6–7, or see the TELPAS practice test for 6th and 7th grade.
This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Texas Education Agency or the official TELPAS program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published test design.