Writing question!!!

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Okay I am very confused about this grammar rule. Are all three of these sentences correct?</p>

<p>-Either a pineapple or some oranges are on the table.
-Neither Meredith nor you are expected to finish the work today.
-Either Don or you is going to lead the class discussion on Tuesday.</p>

<p>I'm using the Barron's Writing Workbook. They say all three of the senteces are gramatically correct but I don't see how the last one is. I'm confused because they say "either" and "neither" are singular then they say that with "or" or "nor" the verb agrees with the closest verb? So in the last sentence, shouldn't it be "Either Don or you are going to lead..." That doesn't sound right either. I'm confused. </p>

<p>So is the rule that "either" and "neither" always take singular verbs or does it agree with the closest noun? Or is it something else altogether? Can someone help? Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Correct me if im wrong. But when a verb is presented in the sentence along with the names of two things,people,places, or ideas (nouns), then you must use neither or either to justify your sentence.
Did that help at all?</p>

3

<p>The 3rd sentence is wrong. It's supposed to be "Either Don or you ARE", since the rule is that the verb agrees with the closest subject (from what I read in Barrons SAT II Writing Workbook).</p>

4

<p>But in the Barron's it says that the form I have typed above is actually correct! I have the writing workbook for the new sat, if there is a difference.</p>

5

<p>I think that the one in the middle is wrong: it should be IS not ARE.</p>

6

<p>See the discussion of subject and verb agreement from The American Heritage® Book of English Usage at <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/060.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/060.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
agreement by proximity. Certain grammatical constructions provide further complications. Sometimes the noun that is adjacent to the verb can exert more influence than the noun that is the grammatical subject. Selecting a verb in a sentence like A variety of styles has been/have been in vogue for the last year can be tricky. The traditional rules require has been, but the plural sense of the noun phrase presses for have been. While 59 percent of the Usage Panel insists on the singular verb in this sentence, 22 percent actually prefer the plural verb and another 19 percent say that either has or have is acceptable, meaning that 41 percent find the plural verb with a singular grammatical subject to be acceptable.
Sometimes syntax itself makes it impossible to follow the agreement rule. In a sentence like Either John or his brothers are bringing the dessert, the verb can’t agree with both parts of the subject. Some people believe that the verb should agree with the closer of the two subjects. This is called agreement by proximity. For more on this subject, see either and or.

[/quote]
</p>

7

<p>So what would the collegeboard people find correct? That "either" is always singular or should the verb agree with the closest noun?</p>

8

<p>There is no hard and fast rule.</p>

<p>More from American Heritage:

[quote]
either … or and verb agreement. When all the elements in an either … or construction (or a neither … nor construction) used as the subject of a sentence are singular, the verb is singular: Either Eve or Herb has been invited. Analogously, when all the elements in the either … or construction are plural, the verb is plural too: Either the Clarks or the Kays have been invited. When the construction mixes singular and plural elements, however, there is some confusion as to which form the verb should take. Some people argue that the verb should agree with whichever noun phrase is closest to it. The Usage Panel has much sympathy for this view. Fifty-five percent prefer the plural verb for the sentence Either the owner or the players is going/are going to have to give in. Another 12 percent find either verb acceptable, meaning that, overall, 67 percent accept the plural verb in such situations, and only 33 percent would require the singular. If none of these solutions satisfies you, the only alternative is to revise the sentence to avoid the either … or construction.

[/quote]
<a href="http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/026.html#EITHER1%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.bartleby.com/64/C001/026.html#EITHER1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It is unlikely that an actual college board exam would include a question with an ambiguous answer since, unlike prep book questions, college board questions are reviewed by multiple panel members and introduced as unscored "experimental" questions for validation prior inclusion as scored questions in an exam.</p>