Question

Choose the grammatically correct sentence from the following:

• A. Neither the king nor his ministers desires war.
• B. Neither king nor his ministers desires war.
• C. Neither the king nor his ministers desire war.
• D. Neither king nor his ministers desire war.

Hint:

With “Neither…nor,” match the verb to the subject that comes closest to it.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

The rule with “Neither…nor” is that the verb agrees with the subject closer to it.
In this case, “his ministers” is plural and is closer to the verb, so the verb must be plural — “desire,” not “desires.”
Option (A) and (B) incorrectly use the singular verb “desires,” which would match only if the closer subject were singular.
Option (D) has correct verb agreement but omits the definite article “the” before “king,” making it incomplete and less formal.
Option (C) is correct because it uses the definite article “the” before “king,” keeps “his ministers” in plural form, and uses the correct plural verb “desire” in agreement with the nearer subject.