Which sentence shows correct parallel structure with 'either/or' and 'neither/nor'?

Which sentence shows correct parallel structure with 'either/or' and 'neither/nor'?

• A. Either you will study or you won't.
• B. Either you will study or you won't study.
• C. Neither the coach nor the players are confident.
• D. Neither the coach nor the players is confident.

Answer: (C)

Parallel structure with correlative pairs requires both sides to be in the same grammatical form, and the verb should agree with the subject, especially when two subjects are joined.

In this sentence, neither is used to connect two subjects: the coach and the players. The verb comes after these joined subjects, and the nearer subject is players, which is plural. Therefore the verb should be plural: are. This keeps both parts of the sentence parallel and ensures correct subject-verb agreement, so the sentence reads as a clean, parallel construction: Neither the coach nor the players are confident.

Using a singular verb would break that parallel structure because it would not agree with the closer plural subject.