Over 30 years ago, I had a British boyfriend named Philip. He was sophisticated, well educated, and played classical music (beautifully) on his grand piano.

That alone would have been enough to blind me to his imperfections. But on top of all that greatness, his wife had died and he was raising their daughter Melanie on his own. In my eyes, he verged on sainthood, and I was in awe of him.

One day, Philip said something I have never forgotten:

Neither Melanie nor I watches much television.

Watches? Really? I would have put it this way:

Neither Melanie nor I watch much television.

Dead certain that Philip the Great couldn’t be wrong, I kept my preference for watch a secret, substituting alternatives such as these for neither-nor:

Melanie and I don’t watch much television.

I don’t watch much television; Melanie doesn’t, either.

I don’t watch much television and neither does Melanie.

And wouldn’t you know it? I was right all along! After all these years, I have finally learned that  according to the Chicago Manual of Style, compound subjects joined with either-or or neither-nor take the form of the verb that goes with the subject closest to the verb, in both number and person. Here are a few examples:

Neither Sarah nor Sam plans to attend the concert.

Either George or the twins are going to bring the sushi.

Neither Henry nor his sons have a Prius.

Neither the boys nor Henry has a Prius.

And (drumroll):

Neither Melanie nor I watch much television.

By the way, neither-nor is a pair of correlative conjunctions. Like other correlative conjunctions (as-as, if-then, either-or, both-and, where-there, so-as, and not only-but also), neither and nor used together “join successive clauses that depend on each other to form a complete thought.” (Chicago Manual of Style.)

Cheers,

Tara Treasurefield

Tara’s Writing Studio