--- In [email protected], "Patrick Gillam" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > My knowledge of grammar is almost completely by ear > > Same here. My mom had excellent grammar, and I picked it > up from her. As a result, I never learned the rules. I could > talk good without them. > > I would say "Neither Barry nor I are going to agree > to that," or "neither Barry nor I am inclined to agree." > > To me, neither/nor is treated like either/or, and > verbs after "or" take the case of the closest noun, > or whatever you call it.
Well, I went and looked it up at Random House's grammar Q&A page. It doesn't deal specifically with "is" vs. "am"--i.e., when there's a personal pronoun--but it does point out that "neither/nor" can be singular *or* plural, because while "neither/nor" is the negative counterpart of "either/or," which always takes singular, it is *also* the negative counterpart of "both/and," which always takes plural. The singular is generally preferred, however. Your observation about the case of the verb agreeing with the closest noun is also correct, but after some consideration, in this case I'd go with the "both/and" loophole and use the plural verb just because it doesn't sound so weird. Grammar isn't nearly so ironclad in its rules as high-school English teachers would have you believe. There's usually some wiggle room if you're faced with a choice between a rule and clarity--you just gotta know where and how big it is. (Dave Barry's Mr. Language > Person might call it a Nominative Predilection.) Huh?? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
