32. Neither Tom nor his brother is—are studying stenography.
33. Both Tom and his brother is—are stenographers.
34. Every one is—are interested in the cost of living.
In the last sentence above substitute one of the following for every one, using the correct form of the verb with each:
each of us; everybody; all of us; several people; both of the men; neither of the men; neither Mary nor John; Mary and John; our club; our class; the nation; not only Europe but America; Europe as well as America; the nation as well as several of the larger cities
The tense of the verb indicates the time of the action. There are three primary tenses, indicating action in the present, the past, and the future. Each of these tenses has also a perfect tense, which, represents the action as being perfect or complete in the present, the past, and the future.
The present tense is the simplest form. It denotes that the action takes place now; as,
| I write | We write |
| You write | You write |
| He writes | They write |
To be more exact, we may indicate that the action is continuing in the present time, and then we say,