WORDS THAT ARE EITHER SINGULAR OR PLURAL SUBJECT:

• When the parts of a compound subject are joined by
  or, but, either ... or, neither ... nor, not only ... but also
  the verb must agree with the subject nearest to the verb.
  

• Neither the Oregon players nor the coach was overconfident.
  
• Neither the Oregon coach nor the players were intimidated by Arizona.
  

• Collective nouns and certain plural words may take singular or plural verbs-depending on the meaning in the sentence.
  
  TEST: If the word indicates persons or things working together as an identifiable unit, a singular verb is used.
  

• The jury was seated at 9 a.m. ("It" was seated.)
  
  
• BUT: The jury were being interviewed by the media.
  (refers to individual members of the jury; could be rewritten as: "The jurors were ... ")
  
  
• Politics is a hot topic. (politics as a single topic)
  
  
• BUT: The mayor's politics are offensive.
  (politics as several actions over time)
  

• The pronouns any, none or some and the nouns all and most:
  
  

1. take singular verbs when they refer to a unit or quantity
   
   1. Some of the money was missing. (a bag of money)
      
2. take plural verbs when they refer to number, amount or individuals
   
   1. Some of the gold coins were missing. (a series of coins)
      
3. "NONE":

a. "No Single One"; "Not One"--Singular


• None of the gold coins was missing. (not one of the coins)
  

b. "No Two" or "No Amount"--Plural

• None of the goods were missing. (no amount of the goods)
• None of the forests were destroyed. (no amount of the forests)
  
  

• When subject is a fraction or a word such as half, part, plenty, rest, its intended number is suggested by the object of the preposition that follows it.
  

• Three-fourths of the enemy's army is wounded.
  
  
• Three-fourths of the enemy's soldiers are wounded.