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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Nor and or
In these two sentences, which is the correct word in ()
Neither overnight campers nor fire (is, are) permitted.
Neither adults nor a child (is, are) permitted to touch it.
Neither overnight campers nor fire (is, are) permitted.
Neither adults nor a child (is, are) permitted to touch it.
Top answer
These seems like an exercise, so you need to give your answer first. No native speaker would ever say the second one.
- These seems like an exercise, so you need to give your answer first.
- No native speaker would ever say the second one.
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4 Answers
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These seems like an exercise, so you need to give your answer first.
No native speaker would ever say the second one.
No native speaker would ever say the second one.
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Hi Anon
I think both of your sentences are unnatural. Not only would your sentences be more balanced and natural if you used plural forms for each of the words that follow "nor", but doing so should also make it much easier for you to decide which form of the verb should be used.
I think both of your sentences are unnatural. Not only would your sentences be more balanced and natural if you used plural forms for each of the words that follow "nor", but doing so should also make it much easier for you to decide which form of the verb should be used.
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Hi anon,
The usual rule for using neither/nor is to make the verb agree with the noun closest to it. So, since in both your sentences the noun closest to the verb is singular, according to the rule you would use the singular is.
I would suggest, however, that the sound of sentence one could be improved by saying:
Neither overnight camping nor fire is
The usual rule for using neither/nor is to make the verb agree with the noun closest to it. So, since in both your sentences the noun closest to the verb is singular, according to the rule you would use the singular is.
I would suggest, however, that the sound of sentence one could be improved by saying:
Neither overnight camping nor fire is
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