Questions: Subject Agreement with and, or, nor Connectors

Question 1

Which sentence uses the correct verb form?

• A. Either the reports or the manager are to blame for the error.
• B. Either the reports or the manager is to blame for the error.
• C. Either the reports or the manager were to blame for the error.
• D. Either the reports or the manager have been to blame for the error.

Answer: (B)

With 'or,' the verb agrees with the nearest subject. In this sentence, 'manager' (singular) is closest to the verb — so the correct form is 'is.' Option A uses the plural 'are,' which would be correct if the plural noun 'reports' were nearest instead. Reversing the order — 'Either the manager or the reports are to blame' — would make 'are' correct, because 'reports' would then be nearest to the verb.

Question 2

Which pair of sentences both follow correct subject-verb agreement rules?

• A. Tom and Jerry is coming to the party. / Either Tom or Jerry are coming.
• B. Tom and Jerry are coming to the party. / Either Tom or Jerry is coming.
• C. Tom and Jerry are coming to the party. / Either Tom or Jerry are coming.
• D. Tom and Jerry is coming to the party. / Either Tom or Jerry is coming.

Answer: (B)

'And' joins two subjects into a compound plural unit, so 'are' is correct. 'Or' presents alternatives — the verb agrees with the nearest subject. Since 'Jerry' (singular) is nearest in 'Either Tom or Jerry is coming,' the singular 'is' is correct. Option C makes 'or' follow the plural rule, which is the most common error — students assume any sentence mentioning multiple people requires a plural verb.

Question 3

In the sentence 'Either the students or the teacher is responsible,' the singular verb 'is' is correct because 'teacher' is the subject closest to the verb.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: True

This is exactly the proximity rule in action. 'Teacher' (singular) is the subject immediately preceding the verb, so the verb agrees with it. If the order were reversed — 'Either the teacher or the students are responsible' — the plural 'are' would be required, because 'students' (plural) would then be nearest. The proximity rule means word order genuinely changes the grammatically required verb form.

Question 4

When two subjects are joined by 'or,' the verb should typically be plural, since multiple subjects are being mentioned.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

This is the most common misconception about 'or' constructions. Unlike 'and,' which creates a plural compound subject, 'or' presents alternatives — only one alternative is actually the case. English resolves this with the proximity rule: the verb agrees with whichever subject is nearest to it. That nearest subject might be singular or plural depending on word order, so the verb form varies accordingly.

Question 5

Explain why changing the word order of subjects joined by 'or' can change the required verb form, and what grammatical principle this illustrates.

Model answer: With 'or,' the verb must agree with the nearest subject. So 'Either the manager or the employees are responsible' uses 'are' because 'employees' (plural) is nearest. Reversing the order — 'Either the employees or the manager is responsible' — requires 'is' because 'manager' (singular) is now nearest. The principle is the proximity rule: when 'or' presents alternatives of different grammatical number, the verb form is determined by whichever alternative sits closest to the verb, not by the combination of both.

This illustrates that English agreement is processed serially — by the time the reader reaches the verb, the closest subject is freshest in working memory, so agreement is resolved against that nearest noun. The practical writing takeaway: when one subject is plural, placing it last produces a more natural-sounding sentence.