Official Verbal Guide SC Q No. 54

[Nauman]

Why is this correct?: ..."(he) was a mystic guided in both public and private life by..."

The above is an extract from Official Verbal Guide SC Q No. 54. I'm confused whether "both and" construction follows the same rule as we apply on "neither nor". Like "...neither he nor his friends are..."

Nauman

[esledge]

"both X and Y" requires parallelism between X and Y, as does "neither X nor Y." But for subject-verb agreement purposes, the "and" creates a compound subject.

Both Jordan and James like ice cream. (plural verb "like")

Your example isn't analogous, as "life" is a noun.