this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2024
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[–] [email protected] 18 points 21 hours ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 21 hours ago

Found the loophole.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Us is a plural subject, so I believe are is correct.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

think of the positive version of the sentence and it becomes more obvious it should be is:

"Either of us is going"

Or, to further stress the point, turn it into a question:

"Is either of us going?"

The subject is not us, it's "either of us", which is singular

[–] [email protected] 6 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

Problem is: "Are either of us going" sounds right too.

Either is not always singular - Either the Red Sox or the Yankees are going to win tonight, not Either the Red Sox or the Yankees is going to win.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago

Fair, didn't think of that. If x or y in "either x or y" is plural, the whole phrase is plural. Either the Red Sox or the Yankees are going to win, either their team or ours is going to win.

Thanks for pointing it out!