Writing Tips
for clarity and concisenessArchive for correlative conjunction
Neither-nor: singular or plural verb?
According to the Chicago Manual of Style, in a sentence with more than one subject, the subject that’s closest to the verb determines the form of the verb:
Neither Henry nor his sons have a Prius (sons is plural and is closer to the verb than Henry is)
BUT
Neither the boys nor Henry has a Prius (Henry is singular and is closer to the verb than boys is).
If you believe that have sounds better, Chicago suggests arranging the sentence so that a plural noun is closer to the verb than a singular noun (Neither Henry nor the boys have a Prius).
And of course, not everyone abides by the Chicago Manual of Style. Other authorities say to use the plural form of the verb when any subject in a sentence is plural. (Link provided by Ted Dorsey.)
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Neither-nor and the Freedom of Choice
I am having so much fun today I can hardly stand it. It’s the 4th of July, and I am celebrating the precious freedom to spend my time as I choose.
What does freedom of choice have to do with neither-nor, a pair of correlative conjunctions? It relates to a rule of grammar I described a few days ago. Here’s an excerpt from this rule as it appears in The Chicago Manual of Style:
Correlative conjunctions are used in pairs, often to join successive clauses that depend on each other to form a complete thought. Correlative conjunctions must frame structurally identical or matching sentence parts . . . each member of the pair should immediately precede the same part of speech. Examples:
Neither Sarah nor Sam plans to attend the concert.
Either George or the twins are going to bring the sushi.
In The Copyeditor’s Handbook, author Amy Einsohn explains that while grammatical formalists “insist that a pair of singular nouns joined by neither . . . nor is singular . . . notionalists allow the pair to be treated as singular or plural, depending on the emphasis desired.” Einsohn offers the following example:
Neither the president nor the secretary was at the meeting . . .
But . . .
Neither the president nor the secretary were at the meeting.
Are you a formalist or a notionalist? The choice is yours. It may be a small matter: But small choices make up much of our lives and so determine the extent of our freedom.
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
