Neither did we expect him to. Should this be “am doctors” or “am a doctor?”. Under this condition, the verb is singular or plural based on the subject closest to the verb. As an example, “Neither Sarah nor Jim can make it to the party on Saturday.” On the other hand, either/or shows when something does occur.

At least grammatically correct or incorrect. Either my sisters or his mother is singing in the pub tonight.

But they are correct or incorrect as marked. When you learn English, it helps to know little grammar tricks that help you tell the difference between words like these. For example: – Is he or the students busy? And some that are incorrect sound correct.

Either one of your brothers seems capable of doing the work. One of his examples is “each other’s car.”. When you're first learning English, it's important to brush up on the specific rules for confusing... English spellings can often be tricky, especially because they’ve taken inspiration from so many... Kaplan International offers language courses in English, French, German and Spanish to adults and juniors across the world. Either the three elephants or the lone tiger is going to be cut from the second act. In fiction, use your judgment about characters using improper grammar with either or neither. (5) Neither did not John. either/or - They are used together to offer a choice between two things. In this case we’re talking about two subjects linked by or or nor. Me either. Lou, I liked the three options she quoted from Barbara Walraff. Also, see this SAT resource for subject-complement agreement. Neither the accountant nor his clients know the combination. Or if you have any tips of your own to share, please include them in the comment section. Neither of them is married. And if you’re writing for the business world, for a news organization, or for a school course—if you’re writing nonfiction—choose correct grammar unless you’re using improper grammar on purpose, maybe to create an effect or prove a point. Being right is worthless if your audience can’t follow what you’re trying to say. When using Neither + of + pronoun (you, us, them), we need the preposition OF before that pronoun.

And my last question, what if you have a question like this: “Play” is closest to “any of them”, but the auxiliary verb “do” is closest to “she.” Should it be “does” (does she play) or “do?” (do any of them play), Hi..please help me. But either and neither are still singular, even when followed by a prepositional phrase containing a plural object. But do at least recognize when the the grammar isn’t standard or may be questionable. Neither of the books was published in this country. Not me either. But many 3-D people speak sentences that would be considered incorrect in terms of proper grammar, so fictional characters can definitely do the same.

I can’t play tennis, but neither can you. Write often.

[incorrect!] But I also can’t say “neither of us is cardplayers”. Responses that would mean something similar all contain a negative component—. These are the ways you can find them being used. Either his mother or my sisters are singing in the pub tonight.

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a- Neither of us has anything in common.

Don’t either of your kids want dessert? – Am either I or my antique gardening tools important to you? Either…or English speakers use either … or … Let’s look at examples. Either and neither are pronouns. There were two witnesses, but neither would make a statement. 1) “They visited each other’s shrines”—I like the feel and sound of the plural here, though the singular is obviously not wrong. Either you tell me, or I’ll turn you in for the reward money. It's about putting the words together to touch, to entertain, to move the reader. As for your examples, my personal choices follow—. When either word is used as a pronoun and as the subject of a sentence or clause—and it’s the only subject—it takes a singular verb. Find out how good your English is in just 10 mins, DON’T MISS OUR LATEST POST Neither definition is - not either. 7 Words to Make Your Essays Sound More Academic.


(These examples get around, don’t they?). What a great blog! But I don’t imagine that many readers would have trouble with the plural.

If each subject has its own verb, that’s a different scenario and a different use of either. If you have questions, please ask.

So perhaps I should say “neither of us is a cardplayer” which sounds ridiculous to me. If it isn’t clear, rewriting is always an option. If the subject closest to the verb is singular, use a singular verb.

Grammar Girl wasn’t very helpful with these subject-complement agreement sentences. You will always find them paired up this way: either/or and neither/nor. .

Under the other condition, the choice between singular and plural will depend not only on the words either and neither, but on other words in your sentence as well. I can’t either. b- Neither of us have anything in common. Neither of my brothers wants to be left at home.
(From what I can tell, this is more common in AmE than in BrE.). (If a verb comes after this phrase then it is in singular form) The present is for neither of us. I’ve included quite a few—several with similar wordings. Thanks, Beth! For all those instances when either and neither behave like pronouns, the structure of the sentence would be: either/neither followed by of + noun phrase, When they act as pronouns either means 'one or the other' while neither indicates 'not one or the other'. Bryan Garner, in The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, notes that the noun that follows each other’s is often plural even though “the logical construction is singular.”, What that means to me is that we usually use the plural, no matter what makes more sense. X. Yes, I know that the plural could imply that the clients have multiple lives, the writers have multiple necks, the unnamed they have multiple heads, and the men each have multiple wives, but I think the misreading is less likely with the plurals than with the singulars. In fiction we want our characters to speak (and think) as they actually would. nor the Conservative figures . In this second condition, readers might be bothered by a plural subject being followed by a singular verb. X. Doesn’t either of your kids want dessert? But they can also be conjunctions (correlative), adjectives, determiners, and even adverbs. That’s up to you to decide. Would your characters always speak correctly? Neither the horses nor the jockeys have ever raced on that particular track. Look for the either/or and neither/nor constructions. The second condition kicks in when there are alternative subjects that share a single verb.

It's about syntax. Either the lone tiger or the three elephants are going to be cut from the second act. I would reverse the order here and start with Evidence of Labour’s recovery . So maybe it's not only about the words. He made us no promises. For example, "Alex wants either candy or cake." If the closest subject is plural, use a plural verb. "Neither" is never paired with "or". In all the cases in which we find "either" and "neither" as conjunctions, we also find them combined with "or" and "nor". That’s what I thought. Kathy, some people do say me either when they mean me neither.

If you want to avoid that, consider rewriting the sentence (e.g. I wouldn’t either.

It is wrong to combine neither with a negative verb. neither/nor - When they're paired up they negate both parts of a statement. > Neither journalist could finish their articles; there wasn't enough time. I don’t either. "Neither" is a singular adjective and can be paired with "nor" in a sentence. Neither the jockeys nor the horses have ever raced on that particular track. Neither did John. what is Problem in subject and verb number choice? Turn the reader's attention where you want it to go. Neither his mother nor my sisters are singing in the pub tonight.

> Either mum or dad will come to pick you up. Get our latest English tips, news & promotions delivered straight to your inbox. (4) John did not neither. Let’s look at both words and settle the issue of subject-verb agreement when they’re used as subjects.

It was an experience that neither of us will ever forget. Have you ever struggled with either or neither, wondering if they referred to subjects singular or plural, wondering if they took singular or plural verbs? How to use neither in a sentence. > Both these roads go to Rome; you can go either way. If we start using “I” with the “either / or” and “neither / nor” type of sentences, it seems we should get a sentence such as this: – Neither the students nor I am doctors. HELP ME with EITHER/NEITHER . Even native speakers will sometimes get things like this confused! September 12, 2015 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill, Either, Neither, and Subject-Verb Agreement, SAT resource for subject-complement agreement, Story Goal, Story Question, and the Protagonist’s Inner Need (Story Structure Part 1), One of the 50 Best Blogs by and for Editors.

> Neither journalist could finish their articles; there wasn't enough time. 4) “They shook their head,” or “They shook their heads”? > I don't like mushrooms.

Thank you!