When there is a noun phrase with "or" with 1 singular noun and 1 plural noun, should the verb be singular or plural? Example: "UPS or others" [duplicate]

Solution 1:

The best answer is the opposite of what you were starting to do. It's more common to use the plural and say "Apples or oranges are both good."

With mixed plurals ("they or I" or "you or we"), style guides will say to use the closer noun but there's a substantial number of native speakers who have trouble with this. The whole issue with s/v agreement and or is vexed and what we usually do is simply phrase things so that we can avoid it. If you're ever in some bizarre situation where there's a specific single orange and an indeterminate number of potential apples, you'd say "I'm fine with apples or the orange" and not anything where the sentence started with the options.

Solution 2:

Sometimes your choice can provide context not otherwise explicit. "Is wine or beer included?" may imply belief or expectation that either none or only one of them are included, while "Are fruit, sausage, or toast included?" may belie a presumption or hope that more than just one are included.