Page 127 - New Grammar with a Smile 5

2. When two singular subjects are joined by or, either…or, neither…nor, we use a
singular verb. For example,

y Either Preetika or Malavika is at home.
y Neither the manager nor his assistant is present to help us.

3. When two subjects—singular and plural—are joined by or, either…or, neither…
nor, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. For example,

y Either Preetika or the children are at home.

y Neither the children nor Preetika is at home.

4. If a phrase comes between the subject and the verb, the verb agrees with the subject
and not the noun in the phrase. For example,

y Each of my friends has given me a gift on my birthday.
y The captain, along with his teammates, has played well.

y The captain, as well as his crew members, was polite.

5. A collective noun, if taken as a whole, agrees with a singular verb.
For example,

y The swarm of bees is buzzing around in the garden.

y A herd of elephants is roaming around freely.
6. Words like each, everyone, one, no one, nobody, neither, either agree with

singular verbs. For example,
y One of the eggs is broken.

y Each of the eggs is broken.

y Everyone in the class is going for the picnic.
y Either is fine with me.

7. Words like several, many, all agree with plural verbs. For example,

y All my friends are coming for my birthday party.

y Many of the eggs are broken.

8. Words like there and here are not the subjects of a sentence.
The subject follows the verb. For example,

y Here is the key.
y Here are the keys.

9. When distances, periods of time and sums of money are considered as a unit, we use
a singular verb. For example,

y Ten kilometres is quite a distance to walk.

y Two thousand rupees is too much for this bouquet.
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