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Agreement & negation · CEFR B2 · Confident
With "or" or "nor", the verb matches whichever subject is NEAREST to it. With "and" it is always plural.
Rebuild this lesson’s reference sentence. Other tasks can have other valid word orders.
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Neither the manager nor the staff were informed.
either A or B + verb matching B
Question 1 of 1
Choose an answer, then check why it fits.
This is a check of this example, not an English level assessment.
Example 1 of 1
Neither the manager nor the staff were informed.
"Staff" is nearest to the verb, so the verb matches it.
The shape
either A or B + verb matching B
Choose the verb when two subjects are joined by "or".
In Hindi
"or" या "nor" हो तो क्रिया सबसे पास वाले कर्ता से मिलती है। "and" हो तो हमेशा बहुवचन।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
Neither the manager nor the staff was informed. | Neither the manager nor the staff were informed. "Staff" is nearest to the verb, so the verb matches it. |
These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.
Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
either / neither / or is a CEFR B2 structure — the confident band — and it belongs to agreement & negation. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
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