Both john and fred dont like doing the dishes i want neither the red shirt nor the blue shirt. Neither my mother nor my father went to university. He will neither come here nor send a representative. Neither nor mistakes this rule of parallel construction applies to all the correlative conjunctions. If a verb is already in the negative then either or is used and not neither nor. Lists and anaphora in bill brysons neither here nor there. Either or neither english grammar guide grammatica inglese. There are hundreds of grammar rules but the basics refer to sentence structure and parts of speech, which are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition and conjunction.
Adam did not find the key neither on nor under the mat. To use it, you need to have a negative word of some type before it. Some of the dessert were left by the end of the birthday party. I am by no stretch of the imagination a grammarian nor do i have the intention of becoming one. The form can be used with verbs, adjectives and nouns. Neither is paired with nor as either is with or, and in those uses as conjunctions they pose usage problems of agreement. In the 1st you are the subjects, in the 2nd the objects of the sentence. I would suggest you replace proper with typical, as all the sentences are grammatical and understandable.
Either the father or the mother has to attend the meeting. In the opening chapter of his entertaining travel book neither here nor there 1992, journalist bill bryson recalls his first visit to europe as a college student 20 years earlier. Home page for english grammar today on cambridge dictionary. Google has 290 examples of neither i nor my friends, but only 190 examples of neither my friends nor i.
If you have a neither x nor y situation, where one noun is plural and one is singular, the verb must match up with the noun that is closest to it. Some of the desserts was left by the end of the birthday party. He neither attends the class regularly nor learns his lessons. Neithernor is used when the choice is negative or the person wants to say that more than one thing is not true.
Some of the dessert was left by the end of the birthday party. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. Some of the most basic and important english grammar rules relate directly to sentence. Neither to show agreement or similarity neither can be used to show agreement or similarity. How to use either, neither, nor and or kaplan blog. How to use either, neither, or, and nor correctly the write practice.
He mentioned neither the flooding nor the landslide. In the following paragraph from that chapter, bryson uses lists and rhetorical anaphora to convey how smitten he was by his first impression of luxembourg city from neither here nor there. Neither of the twin brothers took their books would be correct if the books were jointly owned, but it requires some context to make this clear. But they can also be conjunctions correlative, adjectives, determiners, and even adverbs.
They never take any chances, andbut nor do they trust anybody, i must say. Grammar rules can seem quirky, but there are 20 simple rules of subjectverb agreement that will help this topic make sense. Mignon fogarty is the creator of grammar girl and the founder and managing director of quick and dirty tips. Neither, nor and neithernor english practice learn. The word neither can also be a determiner or a pronoun. Neither john nor i wanted to go shopping she didnt speak to neither john nor me apart from the 2nd sentence being clumsy, surely these are right. In the first example, neither molly nor john is the subject of the sentence. For example, if i is one of two or more subjects, it could lead to this odd sentence. The grammar girl podcast has also won best education podcast multiple times in the podcast awards, and mignon is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame. Neither of before a pronoun or a noun with a determiner e. If both elements are singular, then the verb is singular too. Either or used in a sentence in the affirmative sense when referring to a choice between two possibilities. Understanding either or and neither nor daily writing tips. The restaurant doesnt have fish or vegetarian meals on its menu.
When the correlative conjunctions eitheror or neithernor frame alternatives in the singular, the verb is. When one of the words is used to modify the single subject of a sentence, it takes. Mignon fogarty is the founder of the quick and dirty tips network and creator of grammar girl, which has been named one of writers digests 101 best websites for writers multiple times. The play was neither as funny nor as exciting as she said it was. Although she was born in the usa, fatima isnt quite sure if she completely belongs. Neither the serving bowl nor the plates go on that shelf this rule can lead to bumps in the road. Stream tracks and playlists from grammar girl on your desktop or mobile device. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing and six other books on writing. When or or nor joins two things, use a singular verb if both things are singular. If this were the case, it would be better to say neither of the twin brothers took the books.
If youre presenting two alternatives, youll often use an either or or a neither nor. Conjunction you use neither nor when you are talking about two or more things that are not true or that do not happen. Neither selfknowledge, nor knowledge of others, nor knowledge of the external world has conceptual or epistemological priority. Neither is used as a determiner before a single noun.
There needs to be a preceding use of no, or not any or none, or neither, before the use of nor. But if you use neither, then make sure your sentence does not have any other negatives preceding it. When using eitheror and neither nor, note the following rules. Grammar girl wasnt very helpful with these subjectcomplement agreement sentences. We can either eat now or after the show its up to you 2. Neither this nor that is the story of an american girl who grew up in pennsylvania after her family immigrated to the u. Available on kindle ebook and can be read on any device with the free kindle app. Usually they will take a singular verb if both parts of the structure are singular, as in neither he nor his friend is ready, and if the first element is plural but the second element remains singular, the structure may still take a singular verb, as in neither. He is the author of many books on writing, including the hbr guide to better business writing and the. She has neither eaten anything nor slept in two days. You may have neither strawberry nor chocolate cake. Jay had seen neither the snake nor the wasps nest on the next tree, and was preparing to stake his tarp in that lessthansafe location.
The form neithernor can be used when we want to say not this and not that. Maven, who inspires terror in the untrained and is neither friendly nor helpful. Basic english grammar rules your must know hbr ascend. But the comment that receives the heartiest agreement concerns neither the war, nor the earthquake, nor the crime rate. A conjunction and a coordinating conjunction differ in that a conjunction joins grammatically alike subclausal elements, whereas a coordinating conjunction joins grammatically alike clausal elements. Neither this nor that by aliya husain fatima is a young american muslim whose parents immigrated to the us from india in the 1970s. He either keeps the keys himself or leaves them with his wife. Eitheror neithernor either or used when referring to a choice between two possibilities. Either the boys or the girls have hidden the sweets. Neither in general nor in detail do i agree with you. Note how we use the plural word surfers at the end there to keep everything in agreement.
Is either and neither singular or plural pronounantecedent. In the second, neither in general nor in detail is not. If youre writing for a particularly formal publication, though, you might want to stick to just two items when youre using either or or neither nor. Ticcewhen i is one of the two subjects connected by eitheror or neithernor, put it second and follow it with the singular verb am. While either has a positive connotation, neither holds a negative significance. The type neither nor nor clearly falls within the bounds of legitimacy. By the way, it is equally correct to say bad grammar. Although not a major grammatical error, the grouping of more than two things is frowned upon by followers of some style conventions. When either word is used as a pronoun and as the subject of a sentence or clauseand its the only subjectit takes a singular verb. Make sure the structure joined with the first word mirrors the structure joined with the second word. Get the grammar girls take on correctly using nor in a sentence. So neither the men nor the woman is a good surfer is correct, as is neither the woman nor the men are good surfers. Disjunction in the subject formally takes a verb that agrees in the number with whichever element is closest to the verb.
Learn these 12 english grammar rules for writing seemlessly. However, if one of the things is plural, use a plural verb. Grammarians differ on this point, but theres a long history of both either or and neither nor being used for three or more items. Describes a noun or pronounfor example, a tall girl, an interesting book, a big house. Are neither, nor and other correlative conjunctions singular or plural.
Either sue or the girls are going to prepare dinner tonight. Grammar lessons either or and neither nor my english pages. Eitheror and neithernor beware double negatives the pairings eitheror and neithernor can be used to group two people or things. If you prefer to use a negative, then you want to use either. The pairing neither nor plays a negative role in the sentence. Undaunted by the complicated cultural expectations of an indian muslim girl in the usa, fatima became a role model for her sisters and for many of her friends.
In fact, similar questions have been posted on the grammar exchange previously. This is just as true with neithernor as it is with eitheror neither the russians nor the americans were ready to talk is perfectly correct, but so is neither a british flag nor an american one flies above the pole. The verb in an or, eitheror, or neithernor sentence agrees with the noun or pronoun closest to it examples. The word either can be a pronoun or an adjective more specifically, a determiner, which is a kind of adjective.
However, it is possible to use nor without neither. Subjectverb agreement grammar rules the blue book of. You may either go to the library or a book store to get a copy of the required reading materials. Either and neither, singular or plural the editors blog. Neither the plates nor the serving bowl goes on that shelf. For christmas one year, she even bought me the book i judge you when you use poor grammar. Neither nor used in a sentence in the negative sense when you want to say that two or more things are not true. Nor doesnt necessarily have to appear in a sentence with the word neither. Some desserts was left by the end of the birthday party. A magazine writer, technical writer, and entrepreneur, she has served as a senior editor an. Either and neither are singular either and neither are singular concepts. He did not mention neither the flooding nor the landslide.
We dont wear the same clothes, nor eat the same food. How to use nor correctly grammar girl quick and dirty tips. It would be incorrect to use an or anywhere in that sentenceor to leave out either case of nor. Her desi upbringing combined with her islamic morals, seem to be at odds with everything around her. For each of the following, choose the correct sentence. For example, you might say, i like neither hot dogs nor mustard. So, neither, nor, either english grammar step by step. We show you the rules, the exceptions, and example sentences to clarify the concept. Lets look at the way sentences are put together and the words that form them. The grammar girl podcast has also won best education podcast multiple. The word nor isnt the negative of or, its the negative of and. Some additional rules for either or and neither nor it can be tricky to figure out verb agreement when you.