EITHER & NEITHER

Either and Neither

"Either" and "neither" are used in almost the same way as "so" and "too," but they are used with negative verbs.

Examples:

I didn't get enough to eat, and you didn't either.

or

I didn't get enough to eat, and neither did you.

Pay attention to word order. "Either" goes at the end of the sentence after the negative helping verb, and "neither" goes after the conjunction, then the helping verb, and then the subject.

It's important to notice that words following "neither" are not negative. You shouldn't use double negatives in English.

When two situations are the same, you could write a sentence like this:

William doesn't work there, and John doesn't work there.

But this is better:

William doesn't work there, and John doesn't either.

or

William doesn't work there, and neither does John.



Here are some more examples:

Mary doesn't want to wake Tom up, and Christine doesn't either.

or

Mary doesn't want to wake Tom up, and neither does Christine.

He's not very good at painting walls, and she isn't either.

or

He's not very good at painting walls, and neither is she.

She can't wait until the baby is born, and he can't either. *

or

She can't wait until the baby is born, and neither can he.

*Modal verbs do the same thing that regular helping verbs do--just repeat from the first part of the sentence.

Now it's time for you to practice. It might be helpful to do the exercise in Lesson. If you haven't done so already. As in that exercise, use the subject and the connecting word in parenthesis. Write this out by hand.

1. I can't speak Spanish, and ___________________________. (you / either)

2. She doesn't eat red meat, and ________________________. (he / neither)

3. The students didn't have any books, and __________. ( the teacher / either)

4. We haven't seen that movie yet, and ___________________. (you / neither)

5. Jane doesn't drive yet, and __________________________. (Jim / neither)

6. You won't shop at that store, and ________________________. ( I / either)

7. The computer doesn't work, and ________________. ( the printer / neither)

8. You didn't do any laundry, and __________________________. ( I / either)

9. Henry isn't eating his food, and ______________________. (Zelda / either)

10. I don't have to work tomorrow, and ___________________ (you / neither)



Answers:

and you can't either.
and neither does he.
and the teacher didn't either.
and neither have you.
and neither does Jim.
and I won't either.
and neither does the printer.
and I didn't either.
and Zelda isn't either.
and neither do you.