Improve the bracketed part of the sentence: "All the other subjects (has been reduced) to nameless and faceless extras." Choose the grammatically correct alternative.

Introduction / Context:
This improvement question focuses on subject verb agreement and correct use of passive voice. The sentence given is "All the other subjects (has been reduced) to nameless and faceless extras." The phrase inside brackets clearly contains an error because the subject is plural. Your job is to choose the option that matches the number of the subject and expresses the passive meaning correctly in the present perfect or similar tense.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The full sentence is "All the other subjects has been reduced to nameless and faceless extras."
• The subject phrase is "All the other subjects", which is plural.
• The bracketed part is "has been reduced".
• The options include "have been reduced", "have being reduced", "has been reducing", "no improvement" and a past perfect form.
• We assume the writer wants to say that these subjects now exist in a reduced or diminished role.

Concept / Approach:
Subject verb agreement requires that plural subjects take plural auxiliary verbs. "Subjects" is clearly plural, so with present perfect passive we need "have been reduced", not "has been reduced". The structure "have been reduced" expresses that up to the present time, these subjects have been turned into something lesser. Options like "have being reduced" or "has been reducing" are grammatically incorrect in standard English because they misuse participle forms. The approach is to identify the number of the subject and then choose the correct plural auxiliary in a passive form.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the subject: "All the other subjects". This clearly refers to more than one subject, so it is plural. Step 2: Recall that the present perfect passive form for plural subjects is "have been" plus past participle. Step 3: Combine the auxiliary with the past participle "reduced" to get "have been reduced". Step 4: Insert this back into the sentence: "All the other subjects have been reduced to nameless and faceless extras".

Verification / Alternative check:
Read the improved sentence aloud. "All the other subjects have been reduced to nameless and faceless extras" sounds grammatically correct and clearly expresses a completed change in state. Now examine the other alternatives. "Have being reduced" is wrong because "being" cannot follow "have" directly in this structure; correct continuous passive would be "are being reduced" or "have been being reduced", the latter being awkward and not needed here. "Has been reducing" uses "has" for a singular subject and suggests that the subjects themselves are doing the reducing, which reverses the intended meaning. "No improvement" would leave the original error unchanged. "Had been reduced" changes the tense to past perfect, which is not necessary without a later past reference point in the sentence.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
"Have being reduced" misuses participles, because the correct sequence is "have been" plus past participle, not "have being". "Has been reducing" uses a singular auxiliary with a plural subject and changes the meaning from passive to an active continuous sense, implying the subjects are performing the action. "No improvement" cannot be chosen because the original "has been reduced" violates subject verb agreement. "Had been reduced" would be grammatically possible but introduces the past perfect without any justification from context, and present perfect passive is more appropriate to describe a present state resulting from past actions.

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners focus only on the nearest noun and forget to check the entire subject phrase. For example, they may see "other" and instinctively choose "has" or "have" without noticing that the head noun is "subjects". Another common error is confusion between "being" and "been". Remember that "been" is used with "have" in perfect tenses, while "being" is used with forms of "be" to create continuous passives. Keeping this distinction clear will help you quickly reject incorrect forms in grammar improvement questions.

Final Answer:
The correct improvement is have been reduced, so the sentence should read "All the other subjects have been reduced to nameless and faceless extras.".