TOEIC Link Part 5: either...or and neither...nor agreement

Subject-verb agreement with either...or and neither...nor is a favorite Part 5 item because the intuitive answer is usually wrong. When two subjects are joined by these correlative pairs, the verb does not sum them into a plural. Instead it follows the proximity rule: the verb agrees with whichever subject sits closest to it. The exam rewards reading the noun right before the blank, not the whole subject — once you find that nearest noun, the verb form chooses itself.

The core rule: agree with the nearer subject

With and, two subjects add up and take a plural verb: The manager and the director are attending. Correlative conjunctions behave differently.

• either A or B — the verb agrees with B, the second subject. Either the supervisors or the manager is responsible.
• neither A nor B — same rule, verb agrees with B. Neither the clients nor the vendor was notified.

The reasoning is that either...or and neither...nor present the subjects as alternatives, not as a combined group. Only one of them is "active" at a time, so the verb matches the one nearest it. This is the same correlative-conjunction family covered in our guide to correlative conjunctions; here the focus is specifically on what they do to the verb.

Why the second noun decides it

Part 5 deliberately orders the two subjects so that a plural is followed by a singular, or the reverse, to see whether you apply the proximity rule.

• Plural first, singular second → singular verb: Neither the employees nor the director has signed off. The nearest subject is director (singular), so the verb is singular.
• Singular first, plural second → plural verb: Either the director or the employees have signed off. The nearest subject is employees (plural), so the verb is plural.

The trap is reading the first noun and matching it. If you see employees at the front and choose have, the test has caught you — what matters is the noun immediately before the verb. This is the same "read the structure, not the meaning" discipline that runs through all of Part 5 agreement items, including agreement across intervening phrases.

"Neither" alone takes a singular verb

One related pattern is worth locking in. When neither (or either) stands alone as the subject — not paired with nor/or — it is treated as singular.

Neither of the proposals was approved.

Even though of the proposals is plural, neither is the real subject and is grammatically singular, so the verb is was, not were. The plural noun inside the of-phrase is a distractor. The same holds for either: Either of the options is acceptable. When you see neither of or either of followed by a plural noun and a blank, the singular verb is the safe answer.

"Not only...but also" follows the same proximity rule

Two more correlative pairs behave identically, so the same habit covers them.

"Not only A but also B"

The verb agrees with B: Not only the staff but also the manager is required to attend. The nearest subject manager controls the verb.

Mixed persons follow proximity too

The rule extends to person, not just number: Neither my colleagues nor I am available — the verb matches I, the nearest subject, giving am. Writers often find this awkward and rephrase it, but on a multiple-choice item the proximity form is the intended answer.

A two-step check for the exam

When you see either...or or neither...nor joining two subjects and the choices differ in verb number, do not count the subjects. Run this check instead:

1. Find the subject closest to the verb — the second noun in the pair, the one just before the blank.
2. Match the verb to that noun alone. Singular noun → singular verb (is, was, has); plural noun → plural verb (are, were, have). Ignore the first subject entirely for agreement purposes.

That sequence resolves the great majority of Part 5 correlative-agreement items in seconds. The instinct to add the two subjects together is exactly what the question is testing, so train yourself to look at the nearer noun first.

Summary

• either A or B and neither A nor B do not make the verb plural — the verb agrees with B, the nearer subject.
• Plural-then-singular → singular verb; singular-then-plural → plural verb. The order of the two nouns is the whole point.
• neither of / either of + plural noun still takes a singular verb — neither of them was.
• not only...but also follows the identical proximity rule, including agreement of person (neither they nor I am).
• Decide by reading the noun immediately before the verb, never by counting how many subjects there are.