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Either his parents or Pheroze is going to come today.

The author of the book suggests as :

Either Pheroze or his parents are going to come today. = OK

We know with ( either \ or and neither\ nor ) the last verb agrees with the closer noun to ( or \ nor) So, it is correct on its original pattern. Pheroze = singular and using ( is ) = correct My question " Why to move the singular noun ( Pheroze) to be directly after either " Is this a technique or a new technique?

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    My instinct as a native speaker is that "his parents... is" sounds very awkward with only two words in between.
    – Kate Bunting
    Feb 25, 2021 at 9:06
  • This is entirely a stylistic choice, but the "normal" choice is to identify the subject first if it's coupled within a compound noun phrase with something connected to the subject, and therefore requiring a possessive "forward reference" (such as the word his here). But if a writer did make the less common sequence choice, he'd be very likely to emphasise the construction with a reflexive pronoun: Either his parents or Pheroze himself is going to come today. And there's always scope for disagreement regarding whether that should be is or are going to come.
    – FumbleFingers
    Feb 25, 2021 at 12:55

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I got it Blue Grammar book suggests the following rule :

Rule 5

When a singular and plural subject are connected by either/or or neither/nor, put the plural subject last and use a plural verb. Example: Neither Jenny nor the others are available

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