0
Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

do I use "are" or "is"

0 When you, or someone you know, 01b00are02b00 in the market02br
00Or..... When you, or someone you know, 01b00is02b00 in the market 0-
  

Top answer

0 Hi,02br 00I'd say "are". 02br 00I'd also like to say that without any context I find those sentences kind of strange... When you or somebody you know?

  • 0 Hi,02br 00I'd say "are".
  • 02br 00I'd also like to say that without any context I find those sentences kind of strange...
  • When you or somebody you know?
  • Either it's you or someone else...
  • That's why I said I feel something doesn't sound quite right...
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7 Answers
0
0 Hi,02br
00I'd say "are". 02br
00I'd also like to say that without any context I find those sentences kind of strange... When you or somebody you know? Either it's you or someone else... That's why I said I feel something doesn't sound quite right... but maybe it's just me. 050010id1
0
0 When Y is singular, it's 01i00X or Y is02i00. No comma.02br
00 When Y is plural01sup00102sup00, it's 01i00X or Y are02i00. No comma.02br
00 Make the agreement with the nearest element if the two subjects are joined by 01i00or02i00.02br
02br
01i00
0
0 Hi,02br
01i00"When you or someone you know 01b01u00is02u02b00 in the market..." ???02br
00"When you or someone you know 01u01b00are02b02u00 in the market..."02i
00 - "Are" definitely sounds better to me, "is" is strange... Is my feeling wrong? Do you think most people would fi
0
0With a compound subject with an 01i00or02i00, make the verb agree with what comes last.0-
0
0 Hi GG,02br
00yes, but that's a prescriptive rule for writing, isn't it? I mean, it's like when some people say that is should be "Neither my sister nor my brother is able to..." - I use "are" there, it sounds good and a lot of native speakers do the same.02br
02br
00Now, are my sentences odd from a descriptive point of view? (sorry, you know that I don't conside
0
0They sound like what I would hear, yes. Here's another puzzler:02br
02br
00"Neither my husband nor I are going." but "Neither of us is going." ? 050010id7
0
0 Thank you.02br
00By the way, I say "Neither of us are going", so it's not a problem for me. But I understand what you want to say. I think cases like these are the ones where "notional agreement" is very evident and common. 050010id1

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