Final answer:
The question addresses the topic of subject verb agreement in English, focusing on the use of singular verbs with indefinite pronouns and generic nouns in a sentence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question concerns the topic of subject verb agreement, specifically related to the use of pronoun-antecedent agreement in complex sentences. When dealing with indefinite pronouns and generic nouns, the agreement between the pronoun and its antecedent can be challenging. Let's consider the sentence in question: If someone, either my neighbor or a stranger, places my garbage can back where it belongs, the correct verb to use will depend on the closest antecedent to the verb when there's a compound subject connected by 'or'. In this case, if 'neighbor' is closer to the verb than 'stranger', you would use a singular verb to match 'neighbor'. For instance, 'If someone, either my neighbor or a stranger, places my garbage can back, ...' is correct because both 'neighbor' and 'stranger' are singular antecedents and thus require a singular verb 'places'.