For compound subjects
connected by “or” , “either-or” or “neither-
nor" , the verb should agree with the subject nearer the verb.
Look at these examples .
1.
Either John or the
Quincy brothers are going to wash the dishes at
the bar tonight .
( In Sentence 1 , the
plural noun “ brothers ” is nearer the verb . Therefore , the verb should be “ are ” . But look at Sentence 2 below. We have switched the position of the two subjects. Now , the singular
noun “ John ” is nearer the verb position , thus , the verb has to be changed
to “ is ” )
2.
Either the
Quincy brothers or John is
going to wash the dishes at the bar
tonight .
Here are more examples :
1.
Either I
or you are responsible for the missing book that we borrowed from the professor .
2.
Neither
she nor I have the time to prepare dinner tonight.
3.
Neither
Bert nor his family members are voting
for that corrupt senator .
4.
Either
the printers or the laptop needs to be fixed
by the technician.
5.
Either the
cupcakes or the ice cream is to be served
for dessert.
Practice Activity 1 :
Underline the correct verb.
1.
Either I or she
[ has / have ] to buy the pizza for all of us .
2 Neither
the chairs nor the table [ has / have ] been cleaned by the janitor.
3 Either
the teacher or two of her students
[ is / are ] preparing the laboratory equipment.
4.
Peter or
his sister [ is / are ] taking care of their sickly parents.
5.
Neither
this dress nor these shoes [ is / are ] on sale.
Practice Activity 2 : Choose
the correct compound subject .
1.
________________ is attending the party.
a.
Either
Dan or his friends
b.
Neither
you nor I
c.
Either Beth
or Mary
2.
________________
have the skills for this job.
a.
Either
you or she
b.
Neither
the outgoing engineer nor the new applicants
c.
Either my
friend Harry or your football buddy
3.
_________________
has to re-write the script for the new
drama.
a.
Either
the original writers or the director
b.
Neither
the director nor the writers
c.
The actors and the writer
4.
__________________believe
in love at first sight .
a.
Neither
you nor I
b.
Neither
I nor she
c.
Neither
they nor he
5.
__________________
is going to New York.
a.
Either
Paul or Jim and Kate
b.
Either
you or your cousin
c.
Neither
she nor you
