In short, it is best to recast the sentence.



According to the 3rd edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage (R.W. Burchfield ed.), the verb should follow the number of the first element of a double subject if its elements are coordinated by or. Since the first element is "you" here, it should be "are"; but Burchfield seemed to be thinking rather about whether to use plural or singular in cases like "neither my opinion nor yours matters in this company", where both elements of the subject are singular 3rd person—not so much about cases where each element would require a different form.

About double subjects coordinated by "and", he says that they should normally take a plural verb, unless they are so strongly connected that they may be regarded as one in thought, in which case singular is also possible. He mentions "a certain cynicism and resignation comes along with the poverty of Italian comedy" as a good example.



It seems Burchfield, otherwise a fine chap, is skirting the issue. Credit must be given where it is due: the real Fowler did find the courage. In the 1st edition, he advises the following options, "in order of merit" from top to bottom:

A. Recast the sentence by substituting a modal verb:


  Either you or your sister will have to
  do the chores.


B. Recast the sentence by ellipsis and rearrangement:


  Either you are going to have to do the
  chores or your sister.


C. Have the verb agree with the element nearest to it:


  Either you or your sister is going to
  have to do the chores.


After all these years, Fowler never ceases to amaze with his sense of style combined with common sense. I wish I could write like him—such clarity and vigour. If anyone knows of a modern incarnate, do let me know; he is not always up to date at present (...), and Burchfield does not have his great style.

Is "either you or [third-person]" followed by a singular verb or a plural verb?
Hello everyone I had been trying to cut out many paths from a single layer in Illustrator. I was trying to convert an anchor point so I could move it but apparently I have ran into a problem.. My image that was previously cut out from a white circle disappeared. 

I am transferring from photoshop but never had this problem before. I have many paths that are overlapped since I was trying to cut them all out from one layer.

Can I get any help on this? I can't seem to merge all the paths or compound shapes.. but everything that is within a path I want to delete from this white circle.

The layer that the paths are on is empty by the way 


