1. Education

Discuss in my forum

Kenneth Beare

Neither ... Nor / Either ... Or - How to Conjugate

By , About.com GuideSeptember 15, 2012

Follow me on:

The paired conjunctions 'neither ... nor' and 'either ... or' can be a bit confusing. Take a look at these examples:

Neither the kids nor John wants to come to with me.
Either I or my colleagues are going to come to the presentation.

In the first sentence, the verb 'want' is conjugated in the singular form. In the second sentence, the helping verb 'to be' is conjugated in the plural. Why? When using the paired conjunctions 'neither ... nor' and 'either ... or' the subject closest to the verb determines the conjugation.

This is one of a number of common mistakes in English. Take a look at the common mistakes page and double check more of these difficult problems.

Comments

September 18, 2012 at 10:07 am
(1) Christina CB says:

I thank you for this page. I teach English as a second language in an important institute in Uruguay, South America, and always check for tips and extra information here. I am now addicted to it, and hope it will never go away.
Thank you indeed!
Christina

September 21, 2012 at 1:10 am
(2) Corina Diaz says:

Thanks a lot God bless you this topic was really useful…

September 28, 2012 at 6:03 am
(3) fari says:

I dont know how appreciate your marvelous tips , they are extremely useful . I have read these tips several times in other books but your way of explanation and making examples are different and perfect . I am so cheerful of being subscribed.
sincerely

November 3, 2012 at 5:23 pm
(4) Raul says:

I am a ESL learner and I appreciate for all this helpful information.Thank you again

Leave a Comment


Line and paragraph breaks are automatic. Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title="">, <b>, <i>, <strike>
Top Related Searches septiembre 15 bado conjugate

©2013 About.com. All rights reserved.