Either or, Neither nor, Both

Either or, Neither nor, Both

by Dante Montiel

​Either... or ....

​

I’ve saved some money to buy either [choice 1]a DVD player or [choice 2]an MP3 player.

We use either… or… to connect items which are the same grammatical type, e.g. words, phrases, clauses:

We can either pre- or post-date the document. I don’t mind. (connecting prefixes)

It’s either black or grey. I can’t remember. (connecting words)

You can stay either with me or with Janet. (connecting phrases)

Either I drive to the airport or I get a taxi. (connecting clauses)

​Protecting endangered species

• ​We must either protect the species or implement punishments for hunters.

• ​Animals will either adapt to new conditions or face extinction.

• ​Me must either stop reduce our plastic use or find a way to reduce its green impact.

​

Neither allows us to make a negative statement about two people or things at the same time. Neither goes before singular countable nouns. We use it to say ‘not either’ in relation to two things. Neither can be pronounced /ˈnaɪðə(r)/ or /ˈni:ðə(r)/.

Neither parent came to meet the teacher. (The mother didn’t come and the father didn’t come.)

Neither dress fitted her. (There were two dresses and not one of them fitted her.)

We use neither of before pronouns and plural countable nouns which have a determiner (my, his, the) before them:

Neither of us went to the concert.

Neither of the birthday cards was suitable.

​

​

Spoken English:

In formal styles, we use neither of with a singular verb when it is the subject. However, in informal speaking, people often use plural verbs:

Neither of my best friends was around.

Neither of them were interested in going to university.

In speaking, we can use neither on its own in replies when we are referring to two things that have already been mentioned:

A:

Mike, which would you prefer, tea or coffee?

B:

Neither thanks. I’ve just had a coffee.

​

Neither … nor

We can use neither as a conjunction with nor. It connects two or more negative alternatives. This can sound formal in speaking:

Neither Brian nor his wife mentioned anything about moving house. (Brian didn’t mention that they were moving house and his wife didn’t mention that they were moving house.)

Neither Italy nor France got to the quarter finals last year.

The less formal alternative is to use and … not … either:

Italy didn’t get to the quarter finals last year and France didn’t either

​Saving animals on extinction eve.

• ​Neither the planet nor the people benefit from animal extinction.

• ​We should allow neither poaching nor environment destruction.

• ​Exotic animals are neither pets items nor food for humans.

​

​Both

We use both to refer to two things or people together:

Both those chairs are occupied, I’m afraid. (The two chairs are occupied.)

Are both your parents going to Chile? (Are your mother and father going to Chile?)

Both with nouns

When we use both before a determiner (e.g. a/an, the, her, his) + noun, both and both of can be used:

She knew both my children. (or … both of my children.)

Both her brothers are living in Canada. (or Both of her brothers …)

We can use both before a noun:

This button starts both engines at the same time. (or … both of the engines …)

Are both cats female?

​Providing solutions.

• ​Both the people and the government must work together

  to protect endangered species.

• ​We must preserve both animals and their environment.

• ​Both animals and humans

  have to learn how to live along