Sunday 19 January 2014

Not Either--Neither Nor.

In the English language, either and neither can become confusing in their meanings. Sometimes, a writer can use either one and other times the writer will have to choose between the two words to make the writing clear.



Some rules on either:

Either or is used to give choice between two possibilities:

Either the dragon or the magician will attend the party.
One of them will bring either cupcakes or pumpkin pie.

Either can be followed by (one of) and then the group of two:

Either the dragon or the magician could be in charge of the baking.
Either one of them could be in charge of the baking.

Not either, denies both possibilities:

The king does not think either the dragon or the magician will show up.
The dragon does not speak well without either blowing out fire or smoke.

Not either, is used after a negative statement:

The king does not like to be blasted by the dragon.
I don’t either.

Neither nor, is the equivalent to not either or.

Neither the dragon nor the magician are likely to attend the party.
The dragons speaks neither English nor Elven.

Neither can also be followed by (one of) and then the group of two:

Neither of them will be attending.
Neither one of them will be attending.

Neither is used like not either.

The dragons does not speak Elven.
Neither do I.
I do not either.
(informal): Me neither.

In summary:
Either means one, neither means none, and not either equals neitherOr goes with either and nor goes with neither.


To learn more about my dragon books for children, visit my author's website at: 
http://www.dragonsbook.com

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http://www.dragonsbook.com/ReviewIndex.html                                                               
Fantasy Kids Books page: http://www.dragonsbook.com/for-kids.html


copyright Diane Mae Robinson, 2014
Easy grammar lessons for kids and dragons

2 comments:

  1. Uh, what? I really am confused here. I neither got the lesson and either became confused or just lost track of what line I was reading. Neither is the same as not? Either is or, I get. I really am confused. I thought I understood those words. (these words?) Next lesson.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Sue,

    I think you are just tired.

    Either go read the lesson again or don't. But if don't, you will neither learn this stuff nor remember how to use the words properly when you need them.

    ReplyDelete

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