Question

Choose the correct form of the verb to complete the sentence-
Either Rahul or Raj ____ a dancer.
a- are
b- and
c- is
d- were

Answer 1

Hint: The subject-verb agreement must accord in number. Either both the subject and verb should be singular or both should be plural in number.

Complete answer:
 As given in the hint, we need to maintain the subject-verb agreement relationship in the above-given sentence.
Example- They have big boxes. Here, we have used the third person plural verb, ‘have’ with the third person plural pronoun, ‘they’ to form subject-verb agreement.
In the given question- The use of ‘either/or’ indicates the presence of two subjects or nouns. Since both the nouns are given in the singular form; the verb shall also be used in the singular form.
Now, let’s look at the given options-
Option a- ‘are’ is an incorrect option, because both the subjects or nouns have been given in the singular form.
Option b- ‘and’ is an incorrect option, because ‘and’ is a conjunction and not a verb. Conjunctions are used to join clauses and not nouns.
Option c- ‘is’ is the correct option, because ‘is’ is the singular form of a verb that is used with singular subjects or nouns.
Option d- ‘were’ is an incorrect option, because ‘were’ is a plural verb and it is used with plural nouns.
So, the correct answer is “Option c”.

Note:
If two singular subjects have been joined with the help of either/or, the verb we use is also singular in form. Also, keep in mind that the verb depends on the subject and not on the object.