"Either...Or" and "Neither...Nor" Correlative Agreement in Technical English
5 exercises — practise matching the verb to the nearer subject after either...or and neither...nor.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
Which sentence correctly applies the proximity rule, matching the verb to the nearer subject after "either...or"?
"Either the load balancer or the individual nodes are misconfigured" is correct: with "either...or", the verb agrees with the noun closest to it — here, the plural "nodes" takes the plural verb "are". Option B incorrectly uses the singular "is" despite the nearer plural subject. Option C uses the ungrammatical bare form "be". Option D uses the wrong tense "was" and adds a vague qualifier.
2 / 5
Choose the sentence that correctly applies the proximity rule in reverse order, where the singular subject is now closer to the verb.
"Either the individual nodes or the load balancer is misconfigured" is correct: reversing the order puts the singular "the load balancer" closest to the verb, so the singular "is" is required, even though "nodes" earlier in the sentence is plural. Option B incorrectly uses the plural "are" based on the earlier subject rather than the nearer one. Option C uses the wrong tense and adds a vague qualifier. Option D uses the ungrammatical bare form "be".
3 / 5
Which sentence correctly applies proximity agreement with "neither...nor" in a QA test-result summary?
"Neither the unit tests nor the integration suite catches this regression" is correct: the singular "the integration suite" is closest to the verb, so the singular "catches" is required, despite the earlier plural "tests". Option B incorrectly uses the plural "catch". Option C uses the ungrammatical participle form alone as the main verb. Option D uses plural "have" and adds a confusing, redundant qualifier.
4 / 5
Select the sentence that correctly applies proximity agreement with "neither...nor" when the plural subject is closest to the verb, in an architecture review.
"...nor the read replicas support this query pattern efficiently" is correct: the plural "the read replicas" is closest to the verb, so the plural "support" is required, even though "database" earlier is singular. Option B incorrectly uses the singular "supports". Option C uses the ungrammatical bare participle as the main verb. Option D mixes an auxiliary "has" with the base form incorrectly.
5 / 5
Which sentence correctly applies the proximity rule with a first-person subject closest to the verb after "either...or", requiring matching subject-verb agreement rather than a fixed default?
"Either the reviewers or I am responsible for signing off..." is correct: with "I" as the subject closest to the verb, the matching form "am" is required, following the proximity rule even with pronouns. Option B incorrectly uses "are", which would match "reviewers" rather than the nearer "I". Option C incorrectly uses "is", which matches neither subject correctly. Option D uses the ungrammatical bare form "be".