There is something called notional agreement where the two alternatives combined with either and or together , as it were, make a plural even though they are separate entities. In that case - Either the mother or the father are going to have to look after the child is acceptable because the two together albeit at different times are going to have to look after the child. Put another way one doesn't really exclude the other. But- Either a quick decision or a postponement is required in this situation calls out for a singular verb as one of the choices excludes the other. (From Mr.Alan, English teacher) So, 1/ Either she or I is/are going to have to decide. 2/Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia was/were a member of Indochina. 3/Al Gore or George Bush was/were the President of the USA. For these 3 sentences, you will choose the singular form or the plural form? Or both are correct? Why? Quoc Regular Member 870 1/ Either she or I am going to have to decide. 2/Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia was a member of Indochina. 3/Al Gore or George Bush was the President of the USA.  Veteran Member 7,005 Either is a word that causes endless problems not only for writers but also sometimes for those who wish to guide them. The style manual for the London Times, for instance, states flatly that "neither takes a singular verb, e.g., 'Neither Bert nor Fred has any idea.'" That is true enough, to be sure, for examples involving Bert and Fred or any other two singular items, but what if the items are plural? According to the Times guide, we would have to write, "Neither the men nor the women is dressed yet," which would be irregular, to say the very least. And what if there is a mixture of singular and plural? Again, according to the strictures of the Times Guide to English Style and Usage, as it is formally known, we would have to write, "Neither the farmer nor his fifty cows was in the field," and again we would be grammatically eccentric. The rule, as you will gather, is slightly more complicated than is sometimes taught --- but not so complicated that it should cause such persistent problems. Briefly put, in neither ... nor constructions, the verb should always agree with the noun nearest it. Thus, "Neither De Niro nor his agent were available for comment" should be "was available for comment." Since the noun nearest the verb (agent) is singular, so the verb should be singular. However, when the noun nearest the verb is plural, the verb should also be plural: "Neither the President nor his advisers were available for comment." Incho is replying about the negative form, which has already been discussed in another thread (even though he adds some interesting ideas); it's not really the point of Tung Quoc's question. Here I agree with Yoong Liat. It's true that in some languages (including Italian) a double subject is considered plural even when joined by "or", while in English we consider that with "or" only one of the two is valid, so it's singular. In the first example, as Incho explains, we choose the verb nearest to the subject. | |
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