'Is' or 'are'?

You are correct. It's one or the other, making for a singular subject to use "is."

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I've been wondering about this too. - Looking forward to the official word. Perhaps Marius can give us a reference.

AVim"Reward or punishment [is/are] meted out quite independent of human interference." The original sentence in the book uses 'are', I'm wondering if it's correct. IMO, we need to choose one from the 'Reward' or 'puninshment', so 'is' is prefered. Am I right?

I think it's a typo.

Reward or punishment [is/are] meted out qu

>>Reward or punishment [is/are]... <<

I think is is the only one that sounds fine in American English, but both should be ok in British English. We need some natives to find out whether this is true or not now.

Kooyeen>>Reward or punishment [is/are]... <<

I think is is the only one that sounds fine in American English, but both should be ok in British English. We need some natives to find out whether this is true or not now.

Maybe there's one possibility which means we can choose 1) reward, 2) punishment, 3) both reward and punishment as the subject. So 'are' can be used.???

I'm amused by the credit given to native speakers. We can say, "I've never heard such a thing," or "I'd say it this way," but that doesn't mean we know what's "correct."

For example, when I say, "Just between you and me, I think she's great," people from the next register are horrified. "NO, you mean "between you and I!" In other words, what we say and what sounds "right" to us are not

AVimMaybe there's one possibility which means we can choose 1) reward, 2) punishment, 3) both reward and punishment as the subject. So 'are' can be used.???

Hi,

The or is not inclusive in the English language.

Using Google search, I found a small group of Chinese-language sites that uses the same construction you questioned. The majori