the use of neither.. nor, either...or

1. Neither, neither … nor and not … either
Neither as a determiner
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 / na ðə(r)/ˈ ɪ or / ni:ðə(r)/.ˈ
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.
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.
Not with neither and nor
When a clause with neither or nor is used after a negative clause, we invert the subject
and the verb after neither and nor:
He hadn’t done any homework, neither had he brought any of his books to class.
We didn’t get to see the castle, nor did we see the cathedral.
Neither do I, Nor can she
We use neither and nor + auxiliary/modal verb + subject to mean ‘also not’:
A:
I hate snakes. I can’t even look at a picture of a snake.
B:
Neither can I.
Not: I can’t also.
A:
Jacqueline doesn’t drive.
B:
Nor does Gina.
Not: Gina doesn’t also.

2. Not … either
We can use not … either to mean ‘also not’, but we do not change the word order of the
auxiliary or modal verb and subject:
A:
I haven’t ever tasted caviar.
B:
I haven’t either. (or Neither have I./Nor have I.)
A:
I didn’t see Lesley at the concert.
B:
I didn’t either. (or Neither did I./Nor did I.)
In informal speaking, we often say me neither:
A:
I can’t smell anything.
B:
Me neither. (or I can’t either.)
Neither: typical errors
• We use neither, not none, when we are talking about two people or things:
Books and television are different. Neither of them should replace the other.
Not: None of them …
• We don’t normally use both (of) + not to make a negative statement about two
people or things:
Neither of these shirts is/are dry yet.
Not: Both of these shirts aren’t dry yet.
• Take care to spell neither correctly: not ‘niether’ or ‘neighter’.