Grammar

The pronoun 'neither' is singular and requires a singular verb like 'was' rather than the plural 'were'. Therefore, 'Neither of the candidates was qualified' is grammatically correct. Option A is incorrect because it uses the plural verb 'were', which is a common error triggered by the plural noun 'candidates'.

In formal and academic English, 'data' is the plural form of the Latin noun 'datum,' meaning it requires the plural verb 'are.' Option B is correct because it maintains proper subject-verb agreement. Option A is incorrect because 'is' treats 'data' as singular, which is incorrect in formal grammatical contexts.

The pronoun 'neither' is singular and requires a singular verb like 'was' rather than the plural 'were'. A diagram for this topic isn't available yet — the worked example below walks the same reasoning step by step.

• !Option A is incorrect because it uses the plural verb 'were', which is a common error triggered by the plural noun 'candidates'.
• !Option D is wrong because the question mark must go inside the quotes when the quoted text itself is a question.
• !Option D is incorrect because a semicolon is a grammatically correct way to link two independent clauses.
• !Option A is incorrect because 'is' treats 'data' as singular, which is incorrect in formal grammatical contexts.

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