In which sentence does the verb correctly agree with the subject?
1) A copy of Moby Dick and a magazine has disappered form my room.
2) Peggy or Phyllis dirve me to Florida every winter.
3) Les and Miranda is late for work today.
4) Not only the muffler but also the spark plugs need to be replaced.
Here are the subjects and verbs. What do you think?
1. copy (and) magazine ~ has disappeared
2. Peggy (or) Phyllis ~ drive
3. Les (and) Miranda ~ is
4. muffler (but also) spark plugs ~ need
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sv_agr.htm
To determine which sentence has the verb correctly agreeing with the subject, let's analyze each sentence:
1) A copy of Moby Dick and a magazine has disappeared from my room.
In this sentence, the subject consists of two nouns connected by "and" - "a copy of Moby Dick" and "a magazine." Since the subject is plural, the verb "has" should be plural as well. Therefore, this sentence does not have the verb correctly agreeing with the subject.
2) Peggy or Phyllis drives me to Florida every winter.
In this sentence, the subject consists of two nouns connected by "or" - "Peggy" and "Phyllis." Since the subject is singular, the verb "drives" agrees correctly with the subject. Therefore, this sentence has the verb correctly agreeing with the subject.
3) Les and Miranda is late for work today.
In this sentence, the subject consists of two nouns connected by "and" - "Les" and "Miranda." Since the subject is plural, the verb "is" should be plural as well. Therefore, this sentence does not have the verb correctly agreeing with the subject.
4) Not only the muffler but also the spark plugs need to be replaced.
In this sentence, the subject consists of two noun phrases connected by "but also" - "the muffler" and "the spark plugs." Since the subject is plural, the verb "need" agrees correctly with the subject. Therefore, this sentence has the verb correctly agreeing with the subject.
Based on the analysis, sentence 2) "Peggy or Phyllis drives me to Florida every winter." is the sentence where the verb correctly agrees with the subject.