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Neither...nor...has/have?

Critical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension
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Neither...nor...has/have?

by shady14 » Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:48 pm
Hey guys.

I'm going through the Powerscore SC Bible...And there's this example on pg154:

"Neither Pete Rose, the leader in hits in major league baseball, nor Shoeless Joe Jackson, the only rookie to hit over .400, have been admitted to the Hall of Fame. (Correct)"

If I'm not mistaken, since both Pete Rose and Joe Jackson is singular, aren't we supposed to use "has" here?

Again, if I'm not mistaken I thought....:
Neither the father nor the boys HAVE a gun.
Neither the boys nor the father HAS a gun.
Neither the father nor the boy HAS a gun.
Neither the fathers nor the boys HAVE a gun.

Anybody who has a definite answer...Please confirm this for me.
I'm hoping the book made an error...
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Oct 07, 2011 8:40 am
shady14 wrote:
"Neither Pete Rose, the leader in hits in major league baseball, nor Shoeless Joe Jackson, the only rookie to hit over .400, have been admitted to the Hall of Fame. (Correct)"

If I'm not mistaken, since both Pete Rose and Joe Jackson is singular, aren't we supposed to use "has" here?
You are correct. It should be: Neither Pete Rose, the leader in hits in major league baseball, nor Shoeless Joe Jackson, the only rookie to hit over .400, has been admitted to the Hall of Fame.


shady14 wrote: Again, if I'm not mistaken I thought....:
Neither the father nor the boys HAVE a gun.
Neither the boys nor the father HAS a gun.
Neither the father nor the boy HAS a gun.
Neither the fathers nor the boys HAVE a gun.
Correct on all accounts.


Aside: If you have a neither X nor Y situation, where one noun is plural and one is singular, the verb must match up with the noun that is closest to it.

Neither the father nor the boys HAVE a gun. (here "boys" is closer to the verb, so we use HAVE)
Neither the boys nor the father HAS a gun.(here "father" is closer to the verb, so we use HAS)

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by Aashpreet » Mon Jul 10, 2017 9:19 am
What about the following ? Which is correct ?

- Neither Mark nor Jack has finished their work.
- Neither Mark nor Jack have finished their work.
- Neither Mark nor Jack has finished his work.
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by Aashpreet » Mon Jul 10, 2017 9:20 am
What about the following ? Which is correct ?

- Neither Mark nor Jack has finished their work.
- Neither Mark nor Jack have finished their work.
- Neither Mark nor Jack has finished his work.


Brent@GMATPrepNow wrote:
shady14 wrote:
"Neither Pete Rose, the leader in hits in major league baseball, nor Shoeless Joe Jackson, the only rookie to hit over .400, have been admitted to the Hall of Fame. (Correct)"

If I'm not mistaken, since both Pete Rose and Joe Jackson is singular, aren't we supposed to use "has" here?
You are correct. It should be: Neither Pete Rose, the leader in hits in major league baseball, nor Shoeless Joe Jackson, the only rookie to hit over .400, has been admitted to the Hall of Fame.


shady14 wrote: Again, if I'm not mistaken I thought....:
Neither the father nor the boys HAVE a gun.
Neither the boys nor the father HAS a gun.
Neither the father nor the boy HAS a gun.
Neither the fathers nor the boys HAVE a gun.
Correct on all accounts.


Aside: If you have a neither X nor Y situation, where one noun is plural and one is singular, the verb must match up with the noun that is closest to it.

Neither the father nor the boys HAVE a gun. (here "boys" is closer to the verb, so we use HAVE)
Neither the boys nor the father HAS a gun.(here "father" is closer to the verb, so we use HAS)

Cheers,
Brent
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