Here's why:
* Subject-Verb Agreement: The basic rule is that verbs must agree with their subjects in number. Singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs.
* Proximity: When there are multiple subjects, the verb tends to agree with the subject that is closest to it, even if the other subject is plural.
Example:
* Incorrect: The students and the teacher is in the library.
* Correct: The students and the teacher are in the library.
In this example, "students" is plural and "teacher" is singular. Since "teacher" is closer to the verb "are", the verb agrees with the singular subject.
More examples:
* Correct: Neither the dog nor the cats are eating their food.
* Correct: The cats and the dog are eating their food.
Note: There are some special cases where the verb might agree with a subject that is farther away, especially when there are phrases or clauses between the subjects and the verb. It's important to understand the context and the grammatical structure of the sentence to determine correct subject-verb agreement.