The Editor’s Manual
Free learning resource on English grammar, punctuation, usage, and style.
“Any” can be singular or plural, depending on whether you mean “at least one” or “one or more.” It is generally used with uncountable and plural countable nouns in questions and negative statements, though it may be used with a singular countable noun for emphasis.
One of a group is singular (“one of them is” not “are”). But when “one of” is followed by “who” or “that,” check what is being described: one person or thing, or the plural set.
Use “either-or” to affirm the one or the other of two alternatives and “neither-nor” to negate them both simultaneously. Make sure that the elements joined using “or” and “nor” are grammatically balanced and parallel in structure.
“Either” is grammatically singular and used with singular verbs (like “is” and “has”) in formal usage. In informal usage, the word may be treated as either singular or plural.
“Neither,” which means “not either,” negates each of two possibilities individually. In formal writing, treat it as singular (“neither is”). In informal usage, it may take either a singular or a plural verb (“neither is/are”).
“None” may be either singular or plural, depending on whether you mean “not one” or “not any.” To refer to the individual members of a group, use a singular verb; for the entire group, use a plural verb.
Use “I” instead of “me” when it forms part of the subject (“You and I can work on this together”). When pronouns are joined using “or” or “nor” to form the subject, the verb should agree with the part closest to it (“Either you or I am right”).
When the words in a compound subject are joined by “and,” it is plural. When they are joined by “or” or “nor,” the verb should agree with the part closest to it. When phrases like “as well as” are attached to a singular subject, it stays singular.
Use there is or there’s when the noun that follows is singular (“There is a dog”) and there are when the noun is plural (“There are two dogs”). There’s is sometimes also used with a plural noun in speech and informal writing (“There’s a dog and a cat on the rug”).
“Who’s” is the contraction of “who is” or “who has,” while “whose” is the possessive form of “who.”