Either Chris or the new employee _________ the mail before Dolores or Charles ____.
a. sort/arrives
b. sort/arrive
c. sorts/arrives
d. sorts/arrive
To determine the correct answer for this question, consider the subject-verb agreement and the verb tense agreement in the sentence.
In the given sentence, the subject consists of two choices: "Chris or the new employee." The verb should agree with the subject, which means it should be in the third-person singular form.
Now let's analyze the second part of the sentence. The phrase "before Dolores or Charles" suggests that the action of sorting the mail will happen in the future. Therefore, we need to use the present tense form of the verb "arrive," which is "arrives."
Putting it all together, the correct answer would be:
c. sorts/arrives
Chris or the new employee sorts the mail before Dolores or Charles arrives.