Which option best completes the sentence: "Neither the teacher nor the students _______ interested in the lecture."?

In this sentence, "Neither the teacher nor the students _______ interested in the lecture," the correct form of the verb should agree with the noun that is closest to it according to the rules of subject-verb agreement. When using "neither... nor," if the subjects differ in number, the verb should agree with the noun closest to it.

In this case, "the students" is plural and follows "nor." Therefore, the correct choice aligns with the plural subject. However, the provided answer is singular ("was"), which contradicts the principle of agreement. The appropriate choice would reflect a plural noun to ensure grammatical accuracy. Thus, the correct answer should be "were," as it aligns with "the students." Therefore, re-evaluating the options with this understanding highlights the importance of proximity in subject-verb agreement within a compound subject.