Identify the grammatically correct sentence:

Question

Accepted Answer

Option 3, "All the passengers, with the driver, were killed in the accident," is the grammatically correct sentence. Here's a detailed explanation:

1. **Explanation for Option 3:**
   - The subject of the sentence is "All the passengers," which is plural. Therefore, the verb must also be in the plural form to agree with the subject. In this case, "were" is the correct plural past tense form of the verb "to be," which matches the plural subject "passengers."
   - The phrase "with the driver" is a prepositional phrase that provides additional information but does not affect the number of the subject. The main subject remains "All the passengers," which is why the verb "were" is used.

2. **Explanation for why the other options are incorrect:**

- **Option 1: "All the passengers, with the driver, is killed in the accident."**
     - The verb "is" is singular and does not agree with the plural subject "All the passengers." The correct verb form should be plural, which is why "were" is used in Option 3.

- **Option 2: "All the passengers, with the driver, be killed in the accident."**
     - The verb "be" is not correctly conjugated for past tense in this context. It is also not in agreement with the plural subject. The correct past tense plural form is "were," as used in Option 3.

- **Option 4: "All the passengers, with the driver, was killed in the accident."**
     - The verb "was" is singular and does not agree with the plural subject "All the passengers." The correct verb form should be plural, which is why "were" is used in Option 3.

In summary, Option 3 is correct because it uses the appropriate plural verb "were" to match the plural subject "All the passengers," while the other options fail to maintain subject-verb agreement or use the correct verb tense.