The correct answer is A. The audience stands as the show ends, it displays the correct subject-verb agreement.
Now, let's dissect the sentence 'the audience stands as the show ends'.
- Audience refers to spectators at a public event, as such it is a collective noun, it is also a subject in the sentence
- Stands is a singular verb describing the actions of the subject 'audience'
- Show is a singular subject
- Ends is a singular verb describing what happens to the subject 'show'
In the rules of subject-verb agreement regarding collective nouns, if the context of the sentence portrays a group performing an action together as a single unit, then the noun is singular. Therefor audience is a singular collective noun in the context of this sentence, and it agrees with the single verb stands.
Show is also a singular subject, and it agrees with the singular verb ends.
So, in a sentence subjects and verbs must harmonize or 'agree' in number, and if a subject is plural, its verbs must be plural as well.
