Compound subjects connected by " or" , " either-or" or " neither-nor "

 

              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