The general as well as his staff were there?

Question

i want the correct sentence and anwsers i want to correct it and also want to know how its correct

Answer 1

Read the sentence as if you are only talking about the general and not his staff and then do the same as if you were talking about his staff and not the general:

                                                  "The general were there" or should it be "The general was there"?

                                           also, "The staff were there" or "The staff was there"? "Was" should be used.

                                           Also, I believe that a comma is needed after general. So, the sentence should look this:

                                           "The general, as well as his staff, was there". You use "was" when talking about a singular                                                party, in this case the general or the staff, and you use "were" when talking about

                                            plural, such as "The general and his staff were there".