Beginner Level Correlative Conjunctions Quiz

Two rules apply simultaneously.

First, "neither...nor" is the correct pair — not "neither...or" (option C) or "neither...and" (option D).

Second, with "neither...nor," the verb agrees with the subject closer to it — "his friends" (plural) is closer to the verb, so "are" (plural) is correct.

Option A uses "is" (singular) — wrong because "friends" (plural) is the nearer subject.

This is the MCQOrbit lesson's example Q2: "Either Amit or his friends are coming" — the proximity rule for "either...or" and "neither...nor" is one of the most tested rules in SSC CGL.

Nearer subject governs the verb.

"Not only...but also" requires subject-auxiliary inversion when "not only" opens the sentence.

"Not only did she win" — correctly inverted (auxiliary "did" before subject "she").

"But she also got a cash prize" — correctly completes the pair with the subject retained in the second clause.

Option A omits the subject "she" in the second clause — while sometimes acceptable, option B is more formally complete.

Options C and D use "not only she won" — no inversion — wrong when "not only" opens the sentence.

The MCQOrbit lesson states: inversion is mandatory when a sentence starts with "Not only."

 "Both...and" is the fixed correlative pair — "both" cannot pair with "as well as."

"As well as" is a standalone additive expression that does not need "both."

Either: "Both Priya and her sister attended the ceremony" or "Priya as well as her sister attended the ceremony."

"Both...as well as" merges two separate constructions — always wrong.

This is the same rule tested in the Conjunction section earlier — the MCQOrbit lesson's Parallelism Rule: correlative conjunctions must pair with their fixed partners only.

"Both...and" is non-negotiable — no substitution of "as well as" for "and" is permitted.

"She could both sing and dance beautifully" correctly uses "both...and" to include both skills — she has both abilities.

"Either...or" would imply a choice — she has one skill or the other, not both.

"Neither...nor" would negate both — she can do neither.

"Not only...but also" would also include both — "She could not only sing but also dance" — correct in meaning, but for simple parallel inclusion without emphasis, "both...and" is the most natural pair.

Additionally, "both...and" correctly joins two bare infinitives (sing/dance) in parallel — maintaining the required parallel structure.

With "neither...nor," the verb agrees with the subject closer to it — "the teachers" (plural) is closer to the verb.

The verb must be plural: "were present," not "was present."

This is the proximity rule for "neither...nor" — the nearer subject governs the verb.

Had the sentence been "Neither the teachers nor the principal was present," the singular "was" would be correct because "the principal" (singular) would be the nearer subject.

The MCQOrbit lesson's example Q2 demonstrates this rule — applied here to "neither...nor" instead of "either...or."

"Whether...or" is the correct correlative pair for expressing alternatives — "Whether she comes or not, the meeting will proceed" correctly presents both scenarios (she comes / she does not come) and states the outcome (meeting proceeds regardless).

Option B adds "but" — wrong; "whether...or" does not pair with "but."

Option C omits "or" — "whether" cannot stand alone; the "or" is mandatory to complete the pair.

Option D separates "or" from its object — grammatically incomplete.

"Whether...or" is the fixed pair for conditional alternatives — both words are mandatory.

"Either...or" is the fixed correlative conjunction pair expressing a choice between two options — "Either she goes or I stay."

"Either" cannot pair with "nor" (that is "neither...nor"), "and" (that is "both...and"), or "but" (not a correlative pair).

Correlative conjunctions are fixed duos — the first word determines the second word with no flexibility.

Memory hook: either/or = choice between options (think: either this OR that — both words rhyme with choice); neither/nor = both options negated.

Mixing the pairs ("either...nor," "neither...or") is a consistent beginner-level error in error spotting.

"Both...and" expresses inclusion of two positive qualities — "She is both talented and dedicated" correctly states that she possesses both qualities simultaneously.

"Either...or" expresses a choice between two — implying she has one but not both.

"Neither...nor" negates both — implying she has neither quality.

"Not only...but also" also includes both — "She is not only talented but also dedicated" — also correct in meaning, but "both...and" is the more direct and common form for simple inclusion.

When both positive qualities are equally stated without emphasis, "both...and" is the most natural and precise pair.

"Either...or" requires parallel structure — the elements joined must be in the same grammatical form.

After "either" comes "you should apologise to him" (subject + modal + base verb + object).

After "or" comes "to leave the meeting immediately" (infinitive phrase) — not parallel.

The correct sentence: "Either you should apologise to him or you should leave the meeting immediately" (both clauses) or "You should either apologise to him or leave the meeting immediately" (both base verbs).

The parallelism rule from the MCQOrbit lesson: whatever grammatical form comes after the first word of the pair MUST come after the second word too.

"So...that" is the correlative pair for result — "The report was so long that it could not be read in one sitting" correctly uses "so" to modify the adjective "long" and "that" to introduce the result clause.

"So + adjective + that" is the standard structure when an adjective follows "so" directly (without a noun).

"Such...that" would require a noun: "such a long report that..." — no noun immediately after "such" here.

"Both...and" and "either...or" are wrong — these are choice/inclusion pairs, not result pairs.

The so/that vs. such/that distinction is tested consistently: so + adjective/adverb + that; such + (adjective) + noun + that.