Question 58
MediumOriginal questionChoose the correct form of the verb to fill the blank.
Either the teacher or the students ______ to blame for the noise.
Show the answer and explanation
CorrectNot quiteAnswer A
Correct answer: A
Explanation
With "either ... or", the verb agrees with the nearer subject. The nearer one is "the students", which is plural, so "are".
Worth noting
"Is" agrees with "the teacher", but the teacher is further from the verb. Swap them and it becomes "either the students or the teacher is".
- Concept
- "Either ... or": the verb agrees with the nearer subject
- Typical timeTypical
- 30 s
- Your timeYours
- —
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