Foundation
English
Tenses
Sentences
Tenses
Question
Choose the option that best corrects the underlined word.
Every man and every woman have certain basic human rights. [Intermediate]
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Solution
When two singular subjects (man and woman) preceded by 'each' or 'every' are connected by ‘and’, the verb should be singular. Therefore option C is the correct answer because the verb 'has' is used with singular nouns.
Options A and B are incorrect because 'have' is used with plural nouns.
Option D is incorrect because we use 'has had' in the present perfect tense when the main verb is 'had' which is the past participle of the root verb 'have'. When talking about general truths like human rights, it is common in standard English to use the simple present tense.