Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
Are there any truly unsympathetic MALE characters in this strip?
Method of Madness:
--- Quote from: pwhodges on 14 Jun 2011, 03:38 ---
--- Quote from: O8h7w on 14 Jun 2011, 03:33 ---But this thing, flirting with Marigold, is something neither he nor she has a clue about how to handle with maturity.
--- End quote ---
Fixed. He matches she, and "neither he nor she" is a singular subject.
--- End quote ---
Zero taking the singular form (like "neither is") has and still does seem wrong, since 0 ≠ 1. It's the one grammar rule (that I can think of) that I refuse to follow.
pwhodges:
Think of it as an expansion of "neither has a clue". It's common that an apparently plural modifier of the subject can make the singular verb seem uncomfortable; the same happens in the form "neither of them has a clue". Allowing the plural verb in at that point is not uncommon, though; I don't correct it out of text-book strictness (which I disapprove of), but because it actually seems wrong to me (because I feel that keeping the logic of language consistent helps comprehension in the long run).
jwhouk:
--- Quote from: O8h7w on 14 Jun 2011, 03:33 ---Exactly my point, although I have to say Dale is often more mature than most of the cast. But this flirting thing is something neither Marigold nor Dale have a clue about handling with maturity.
--- End quote ---
There we go.
Method of Madness:
--- Quote from: pwhodges on 14 Jun 2011, 15:08 ---Think of it as an expansion of "neither has a clue". It's common that an apparently plural modifier of the subject can make the singular verb seem uncomfortable; the same happens in the form "neither of them has a clue".
--- End quote ---
See, that seems wrong to me, too. I would definitely use "neither have". I'll put it this way, would you say "both has a clue"? Because that's the same thing, "neither has/have" = "both do not have".
DSL:
I'd say, " both have clues," or " both havethe clue," depending on whether multiple peope had awareness or possession of the same clue. In the ase of the singular "neither," I think of it as an implied (one): "Niether (one) has a clue."
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