Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges, chapter 287

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[*] 287. One adjective may belong in sense to two or more nouns of different genders. In such cases,—

An Attributive Adjective agrees with the nearest noun:—

multae operae ac labōris, of much trouble and toil.
vīta mōrēsque meī, my life and character.
“sī rēs, sī vir, sī tempusūllum dīgnum fuit ” (Mil. 19) , if any thing, if any man, if any time was fit.

A Predicate Adjective may agree with the nearest noun, if the Nouns form one connected idea:—

factus est strepitus et admurmurātiō; (Verr. 1.45), a noise of assent was made (noise and murmur).

[*] Note.--This is only when the copula agrees with the nearest subject (§ 317. c).

But generally, a Predicate Adjective will be masculine, if nouns of different genders mean living beings; neuter, if things without life:—

“uxor deinde ac līberī amplexī” (Liv. 2.40) , then his wife and children embraced him.
labor (M.) voluptāsque (F.) societāte quādam inter sē nātūrālī sunt iūncta (N.) (id. 5.4), labor and delight are bound together by a certain natural alliance.

If nouns of different genders include both living beings and things without life, a Predicate Adjective is sometimes masculine (or feminine), sometimes neuter, and sometimes agrees in gender with the nearest if that is plural:—

“rēx rēgiaque classis ūnā profectī” (Liv. 21.50) , the king and the royal fleet set out together.
nātūrāinimīca sunt lībera cīvitās et rēx (id. 44.24), by nature a free state and a king are hostile.
lēgātōs sortēsque ōrāculī exspectandās (id. 5.15), that the ambassadors and the replies of the oracle should be waited for.

[*] a. Two or more abstract nouns of the same gender may have a Predicate Adjective in the neuter plural (cf. § 289. c):—

“stultitia et temeritās et iniūstitia ... sunt fugienda” (Fin. 3.39) , foliy, rashness, and injustice are [things] to be shunned.

Ginn and Company, 1903.

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