Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement with a negative or determiner phrase?

Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement with a negative or determiner phrase?

• A. Neither of the dog is barking.
• B. Neither of the dogs is barking.
• C. Neither of the dogs are barking.
• D. Neither of the dogs be barking.

Answer: (C)

When you have a determiner phrase like neither of, the verb tends to align with the determiner itself, which is singular. So the verb should be singular to match that head idea. In the sentence with neither of the dogs, the correct choice uses is barking, because the subject formed by neither of the dogs is treated as a single unit for the purposes of the verb. That makes “Neither of the dogs is barking” the proper form. If you used are, you’d be treating the subject as plural, which isn’t the standard choice in formal grammar for this construction. The form with be is not the right finite verb here. And using the singular dog (neither of the dog) isn’t correct because after of the, you normally reflect the plural noun that’s being referred to, here dogs. So the sentence with is barking is the best match to the subject-verb agreement rule in this determiner phrase context.

When you have a determiner phrase like neither of, the verb tends to align with the determiner itself, which is singular. So the verb should be singular to match that head idea. In the sentence with neither of the dogs, the correct choice uses is barking, because the subject formed by neither of the dogs is treated as a single unit for the purposes of the verb. That makes “Neither of the dogs is barking” the proper form.

If you used are, you’d be treating the subject as plural, which isn’t the standard choice in formal grammar for this construction. The form with be is not the right finite verb here. And using the singular dog (neither of the dog) isn’t correct because after of the, you normally reflect the plural noun that’s being referred to, here dogs. So the sentence with is barking is the best match to the subject-verb agreement rule in this determiner phrase context.