Question

Kids, wanting to follow in the footsteps of the clowning icon, approaches him for guidance.

How should the sentence above be rewritten to correct the subject-verb agreement error?
A.The sentence is correct as written.
B.Kids, wanting to follow in the footsteps of the clowning icon, approach him for guidance.
C.The kid, wanting to follow in the footsteps of the clowning icon, approach him for guidance.
D.Kids, wanting to follow in the footsteps of the clowning icon, was approaching him for guidance.

Answer 1

The correct way to write or state this sentence would be C. The subject-verb error is corrected when the verb approaches is changed to approach. When this is changed, we have the noun "kids" with "approach". It may be confusing, but the word "icon" is part of a clause and has no bearing on the verb at the end.

Answer 2

B.Kids, wanting to follow in the footsteps of the clowning icon, approach him for guidance.

The subject of the sentence is "kids". The adjectival clause "wanting to follow in the footsteps of the clowning icon" should be completely ignored. For this question, I would completely cross it out. Approaches is the verb for the sentence. Approaches agrees with a singular third-person subject (He approaches, She approaches, It approaches). The plural form of approach needs to be utilized in this sentence, so approaches needs to change to approach (Kids approach).