Getting hired by a well-known company OR getting enrolled at a famous college ARE good examples of this.
Good examples of this ARE getting more easily hired by a well-known company OR getting enrolled at a leading university.
Are these two sentences correct or should we change the "or" to "and"?
While we are at it, would you omit the second "getting" before the word "enrolled"?
The problem here relates to the meaning of “or” in English. It has a broad field of meaning. In Latin on the other hand
aut NOUN aut NOUN
means one or the other but not both
aut Caesar aut nihil
means
either emperor or else death
but excludes “dead emperor.”
That is what logicians call an “exclusive or,” which means one or else the other but not both.
The Latin word “vel” on the other hand does not preclude both
uxor vel amica
means
legal wife or female friend or both
That is what logicians call an inclusive “or” because your wife can be, and hopefully is, your friend.
In English, “or” can denote either an “exclusive or” or else an “inclusive or.” Some people make a rigid rule on whether a verb with a compound subject linked by “or” should be plural or singular. I do not. I use a plural verb if I intend an inclusive “or” and a singular verb if I intend an exclusive “or.”
EDIT: A comment below indicates that my meaning was not clear.
The grammar should accord with the intended meaning. In this case, the intended meaning seems to be that being hired by a well known company is an example, being accepted by a prestigious college is an example, and presumably being accepted and then being hired is an example as well. We are talking about an inclusive “or,” and thus the meaning calls for a plural verb.
So both versions of the sentence will be understood and will seem natural to a native speaker.
I think the or should change to and. Both sentences are grammatically correct. The getting before enrolled should stay there.
When two subjects are joined by ’or’, the verb follows the nearest subject:
”Getting hired by a well-known company or getting enrolled at a famous college is a good example of this.”
Or
”A good example of this is getting more easily hired by a well-known company or getting enrolled at a leading university.”
But if we use ‘and’, then the sentence should be as follows:
”Getting hired by a well-known company and getting enrolled at a famous college are good examples of this.”
Or,
”Good examples of this are getting more easily hired by a well-known company and getting enrolled at a leading university.”
