Question regarding the demonstrative pronoun “neither”
“Neither of his parents work there.”
Why is this the incorrect usage?
Neither functions as a singular demonstrative pronoun.
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Why do you think it's incorrect usage? – KillingTime Jun 02 '22 at 06:27
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The plural verb form here is an example of notional or proximity agreement. There are several similar questions on this site, including: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/10304/which-is-correct-neither-is-or-neither-are – Shoe Jun 02 '22 at 07:01
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Why? Because the grammar books say so. Possibly because it works that way in Latin. In real life, it has not worked that way in English for centuries. See Ngrams. – Peter Shor Jun 02 '22 at 10:41
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The best answer given at the original indicates that 'Why is this the incorrect usage?' isn't appropriate. But the fact remains that you're getting close to being seen as eccentric if you choose 'Neither of his parents work there.' – Edwin Ashworth Jun 02 '22 at 13:15
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Neither is not singular. It refers to the number zero, which is neither singular nor plural. Hence its agreement must be determined arbitrarily, like many other things in language. – John Lawler Jun 02 '22 at 13:58
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"Neither" quantifies over sets of two and as a pure determiner it takes singular agreement. In the fused determiner-head construction, as in your example, the default verb-form is singular; plurals are also found, though they are likely to be avoided in formal style. – BillJ Jun 02 '22 at 17:33