Read the following advanced sentence containing complex coordination, correlative structures, and potential syntactic anomalies:"Neither the senior research fellows nor the principal investigator were willing to compromise their initial hypothesis, notwithstanding the mounting empirical evidence presented during the plenary session."Identify the segment containing the grammatical error, or determine if the sentence is entirely correct.

Detailed Explanation

The error lies in option (a). According to the rules of Subject–verb agreement, when two subjects are joined by correlative conjunctions like 'neither... nor', the verb must agree with the subject closest to it. In this sentence, the closer subject is 'the principal investigator', which is a singular noun. Therefore, the plural auxiliary verb 'were' is grammatically incorrect and must be replaced with the singular form 'was'. (Note: The pronoun 'their' following in option (b) is acceptable in modern usage for gender-neutral singular reference, but the verb agreement rule strictly demands a singular verb).

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