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According to this link, if at least one of the nouns involved is plural then it should take the plural form of the verb. Otherwise, it should take the singular form of the verb. But in the last part it says not all grammars agree to those rules thus proximity rule applies. However, it doesn't explain when to apply the proximity rule and when not to use the former rules.

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I think this is an interesting question; unhappily, I also think there's no good answer (which is at bottom what "not all grammars agree" means). I "solve" problems like this by avoiding them. – StoneyB Oct 15 '12 at 16:50
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Please illustrate with examples. – coleopterist Oct 15 '12 at 16:57

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The “proximity rule” you are referring to is that when you have a compound but disjunctive subject, the verb agrees in number with the closer — or in the case of three or more, the closest — of the subjects. All these are correct:

  • Either my brother or my sister is going to get it.
  • Either my brothers or my sisters are going to get it.
  • Either my brother or my sisters are going to get it.
  • Either my brothers or my sister is going to get it.
  • Either I or my brother is going to get it.
  • Either my brother or I am going to get it.
  • Either my brother or thou art doomed.

But it is often better to rephrase:

  • Either my brother is going to get it, or my sisters are.
  • Either my brother is going to get it, or I am.
  • Either my brother is doomed, or thou art.
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How disjunctive the subjects should be to consider they are indeed disjunctive enough to consider using proximity rule? Is it not right to just always use proximity rule in all cases? – supertonsky Oct 19 '12 at 16:14
@supertonsky Yes, always use proximity with disjunction. – tchrist Oct 22 '12 at 16:53
one last question, what exactly do you mean by disjunctive subjects? – supertonsky Oct 23 '12 at 7:45

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