Either ... or: singular or plural?

[J. P. Gilliver]

I am adding a note in YouTube: "Either the notes or the title needs
correcting." Should I say "needs" or "need"? (I've gone with "needs", as
I think only one does; if both are wrong would that change the answer?)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

You can tell that you are getting old when typing VCR into a document [results
that the spell checker] wants to change it to Vicar.
- Brian Gaff in uk.tech.broadcast, 2016-3-6

[Tony Mountifield]

In article <7nTU05Cp...@255soft.uk>,

J. P. Gilliver <G6...@255soft.uk> wrote:
> I am adding a note in YouTube: "Either the notes or the title needs
> correcting." Should I say "needs" or "need"? (I've gone with "needs", as
> I think only one does; if both are wrong would that change the answer?)

Taking each in isolation, the number is different:
- The notes need correcting.
- The title needs correcting.

So I think the only correct way to combine them would be something like this:
"Either the notes need correcting or the title does."

Cheers
Tony
--
Tony Mountifield
Winchester, UK

[J. P. Gilliver]

In message <u3amkt$1i3$1...@softins.softins.co.uk> at Mon, 8 May 2023
11:32:45, Tony Mountifield <to...@mountifield.org> writes

Ah, I hadn't spotted that wrinkle; that probably explains why I felt
unsure which to use.

But had they both been singular - maybe "either the video clip or the
title ..." - which would be right? "Needs" I think. (I was maybe
thinking of "the notes" as a singular entity, meaning "the header text".
["Have you got a 'notes'?"])

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"Do you want to be right, or friends?"
- a friend quoted by Vicky Ayech in UMRA, 2018-12-4

[Tony Mountifield]

In article <EvgbGRNq...@255soft.uk>,

J. P. Gilliver <G6...@255soft.uk> wrote:
> In message <u3amkt$1i3$1...@softins.softins.co.uk> at Mon, 8 May 2023
> 11:32:45, Tony Mountifield <to...@mountifield.org> writes
> >In article <7nTU05Cp...@255soft.uk>,
> >J. P. Gilliver <G6...@255soft.uk> wrote:
> >> I am adding a note in YouTube: "Either the notes or the title needs
> >> correcting." Should I say "needs" or "need"? (I've gone with "needs", as
> >> I think only one does; if both are wrong would that change the answer?)
> >
> >Taking each in isolation, the number is different:
> >- The notes need correcting.
> >- The title needs correcting.
> >
> >So I think the only correct way to combine them would be something like this:
> >"Either the notes need correcting or the title does."
> >
> >Cheers
> >Tony
>
> Ah, I hadn't spotted that wrinkle; that probably explains why I felt
> unsure which to use.
>
> But had they both been singular - maybe "either the video clip or the
> title ..." - which would be right? "Needs" I think. (I was maybe
> thinking of "the notes" as a singular entity, meaning "the header text".

Yes, for "either" it would be "needs". With A and B being singular items:
- Either A or B needs X
- Both A and B need X

[J. P. Gilliver]

In message <u3dn9h$2kr$1...@softins.softins.co.uk> at Tue, 9 May 2023
15:02:10, Tony Mountifield <to...@mountifield.org> writes

Thoroughly agreed.

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Practicall every British actor with a bus pass is in there ...
Barry Norman (on "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" [2011]), RT 2015/12/12-18