WAEC 2017 English Language · Question 33

Either he or you … to clean up the mess right now.

Question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences. Either he or you _____ to clean up the mess right now.

A.has
B.was
C.have
D.were

Answer: C. have

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question This tests subject-verb agreement with the correlative conjunction "either...or." The sentence also has the time phrase "right now," so the verb must be in the present tense.

The concept With "either...or" (and "neither...nor"), the verb agrees with the subject closer to it, which is the one after "or."

Step-by-step solution

The subjects are "he" and "you."
The subject nearest the verb is "you."
"You" takes "have" in the present tense (you have, not you has).
Check the options: • A. has: used with he/she/it, so it does not agree with "you." • B. was: past tense, which clashes with "right now." It also does not agree with "you." • C. have: present tense and agrees with "you." It fits "have to clean up." • D. were: past tense, which clashes with "right now."

The complete sentence is: "Either he or you have to clean up the mess right now."

Tip: In "either...or" and "neither...nor" sentences, look only at the subject closest to the verb. Ignore the first subject. For example: "Neither the teachers nor the principal is present" and "Neither the principal nor the teachers are present."

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