<p>I'm not prepping for the SAT, but this has bugged me for a while and I was wondering if you guys could help me.</p>
<p>"The apple or oranges ___ not helpful in the experiment."
Fill in the blank: is? or are?</p>
<p>I think I read somewhere (I thought in the Elements of Style) that in such a case, you go with the first item, which in this case is singular, so it would be "is." But I can't find this anywhere, and I'm starting to suspect that I'm wrong. If anyone knows the answer and could cite a source, I would be very grateful.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>The answer is “are.”</p>
<p>You have to follow the noun that is the nearest to the blank. Therefore, “is” needs to be pluralised.</p>
<p>I think I’ve seen this from silverturtle’s guide. He is not only a grammar genius, but also an SAT god, so he is a very reliable source.</p>
<p>I do not consider silverturtle a genius or a god (though he is a pretty cool high school mortal who knows his SATs), so I’ll need another source. But thanks! :)</p>
<p>Thank you thank you thank you!!! :D</p>
<p>^^I have always wondered, though. Isn’t there an ongoing controversy in choosing singular or plural form in this kind of cases?</p>
<p>^ Not really. There is a bit of debate when you have an inverted construction with an expletive pronoun, but not in standard compound-noun agreement.</p>
