Use of English: Agreement After 'Neither ... nor'
In a Use of English exercise, Ivan must complete the sentence: 'Neither the head teacher nor the students ___ willing to move the concert to the smaller hall.' The options are A) was B) were C) is D) has been. Ivan chooses A because 'neither' is singular and the sentence sounds formal. He has 45 seconds left. The instructions say 'Choose the option that best completes the sentence.' The sentence appears in a short article about a school event; the surrounding text uses past tense: 'The committee met on Monday. ... The final decision was postponed.' Ivan knows the proximity rule but is unsure whether it applies when the subject is 'neither ... nor' and the verb is past. He also wonders whether 'students' makes the subject plural.
1. Which option is correct, and what rule should Ivan apply?
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B) were is correct. With 'neither ... nor', the verb normally agrees with the subject closer to it. The closer subject is 'the students', which is plural, so the plural past form 'were' is needed. The past-tense context supports this: 'met' and 'was postponed' show that the sentence is about a past situation, so present forms C and D are unlikely. A is wrong because it agrees with 'neither' or with 'the head teacher', but neither is the nearest subject. If the sentence were 'Neither the students nor the head teacher ___ willing', the closer subject would be singular, and 'was' would be correct. Ivan should apply the proximity rule first, then check tense.
2. Why does A feel plausible, and what quick check prevents the error?
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A feels plausible because 'neither' looks singular and the sentence sounds formal; many candidates have learned that 'neither' takes a singular verb. But in a 'neither ... nor' structure, the nearer subject controls agreement. A quick check is to cover the first part and read the verb with the nearest noun: '... nor the students were willing'. That sounds and is correct. Ivan should also check the time frame: the article says 'met' and 'was postponed', so a past form is needed. He should not choose 'was' just because it is singular; he must ask which noun is closest to the gap. This two-step check - nearest subject, then tense - prevents the most common trap in this item.