I wish I could say that neither the writer nor the editor needs to brush up on grammar, but I can’t. Someone at Yahoo Lifestyle needs a refresher on matching a verb to a subject:
When a subject consists of two nouns joined by neither…nor, the verb must agree with the noun closer to it. So these are both correct:
Neither the writer nor the editor at Yahoo! Style was correct when they accepted this verb choice:
When a compound subject is joined by the correlative conjunction neither…nor, the verb must agree with the noun closer to it. That noun, groom, is singular and the verb should be was, not were.
From Yahoo! Celebrity, two gaffes for the price of one:
Neither or nor the verb have responded is correct. The partner of neither is nor, not or. And when a compound subject is joined by the correlative conjunction neither…nor, the verb must agree with the subject closer to it. So, the verb should be has responded.
What to do? What to do? What does one do if one can’t decide if a compound adjective needs a hyphen? Well, if one works at Yahoo! Style, one hyphenates it once, and leaves it unhyphenated once. Problem solved!
That solution is neither appropriate nor correct, just as the use of the word or, instead of nor, with neither is wrong.
Molly Goddard, a fashion designer, went to the same school as others with the same name. They are all alumni of Central Saint Martins:
It’s either an amazing coincidence or an alternative fact perpetrated by Yahoo! Style. Or maybe it’s just an example of the writer’s and her editor’s ignorance. Perhaps they don’t know that alumni is a plural; its singular, when referring to a female is alumna. If they cared about such things, but were not inclined to use a dictionary, they could have used the gender-neutral alum or graduate.
I’m supposin’ that they don’t care, just as they don’t care that a dollar sign and the word dollars is a tad redundant. Or that placed should be place. Not only did they get the verb wrong, but they also forgot the other half of the correlative conjunction not only…but also in a sentence that resembles the word salad that could have been uttered by the current occupier of the Oval Office.
Over at Yahoo! Style, neither the writer nor the editor has spotted this grammatical goof:
When two words are joined by neither…nor, the verb must agree with the word closer to it, which in this case is the singular Hadid, and the verb should be has released.
Neither the Yahoo! Movies editors nor the writer has any idea what the correct verb is here:
When a compound subject (like reviews and Judd Apatow) is joined by neither…nor, the verb must agree with the subject closer to it. In this case, it’s Judd Apatow and the verb should be has pushed.
In this excerpt from Yahoo! Sports, neither or nor are is correct:
The correlative conjunction pair is neither…nor, not neither…or. And when neither…nor joins two nouns as the subject of a sentence, the verb (which should be is denying) must agree with the noun closer to it (which is Gordon).
Neither the Yahoo! Celebrity writer nor editor has commented on this grammatical gaffe:
When two subjects are joined by neither…nor, the verb must agree with the subject closer to it. In this case, the verb must agree with Jungwirth and should be has commented.
Did anyone over at yahoo.com notice that there’s a messed-up correlative conjunction:
Terribly Write 