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主詞中含有 or 或 nor 的單複數問題

• Taylor or his wife is going to pick up his parents at the airport. (泰勒或者他太太將到機場接他的父母親)
• The twin brothers or their sister are going to pick up their parents at the airport. (這對雙胞胎兄弟或是他們的姊姊將到機場接他們的父母親)

• Neither Paul nor Peter is in the library. (保羅和彼得都不在圖書館) (正) － 由於 Paul 是單數，而 Peter 也是單數，所以動詞用 is 是正確的，若用複數 are 就錯了。
• Neither Dickens nor Gary was a nice guy. (狄更斯和蓋瑞都不是好人) (正) － Dickens 和 Gary 都是單數，所以動詞用 was (不是 were)。
• Either Mr. Chen or his wife has the keys to the Lexus. (陳先生或者他太太有這部凌志的鑰匙) (正) － Mr. Chen 和 his wife 都是單數，所以動詞用 has (不是 have)。
• Neither Tracy nor Gina do as they are told. (崔西和吉娜都沒有按照指示去做) (誤) － Tracy 和 Gina 都是單數，所以動詞應該用單數的 does (不是複數的 do)。
• Either Mary or her sister plays the piano at night. (不是瑪麗就是她姊姊在晚上彈鋼琴) (正)

• Neither the teacher nor the students are able to solve the math problem. (老師和學生都解不出這個數學問題) (正) － teacher是單數，students 是複數，所以動詞用 are (不是 is)。
• There were neither cakes nor ice cream at the birthday party. (生日聚會上既沒有蛋糕也沒有冰淇淋) (正)
• Neither the detectives nor the policemen know him. (警探和警察都不認識他) (正) (不是 knows)
• Either Amy and Sarah or Kevin has to go there. (不是艾美和莎拉就是凱文必須去那裡) (誤)

• There was neither ice cream nor cakes at the birthday party. (生日聚會上既沒有冰淇淋也沒有蛋糕)
  － 根據一般慣例，這句不對，因為 cakes 為複數字，即主詞的兩個元素中有一為複數，動詞應為 were。但根據靠近規則，這句是正確的，因為最靠近動詞的元素 ice cream 是單數，動詞用 was自是無誤。
• Either Amy and Sarah or Kevin has to go there. (不是艾美和莎拉就是凱文必須去那裡)
  － 根據一般慣例，這句不對，因為主詞的兩個元素中有一為複數，即 Amy and Sarah，動詞應為 have。但根據靠近規則，這句是正確的，因為最靠近動詞的元素 Kevin 是單數，動詞用 has自是無誤。