Synthesis & Transformation

Either…or…Neither…or…

We use either…or to talk about a choice between two (or more) possibilities.

E.g. You can have tea. You can have coffee. => You can have either tea or coffee.

E.g. He does not speak French. He does not speak German.

=> He does not speak either French or German.

When subjects are connected by either…or, the verb follows the subject directly in front.

E.g. Mary is going to the party. Jenny is going to the party. => Either Mary or Jenny is going to the party.

E.g. If Peter does not finish cleaning up the house, his brothers have to do it. => Either Peter or his brothers have to clean up the house.

We use either of before a pronoun or a determiner (e.g. the, my, these)

E.g. I do not like Jason. I do not like Mary. => I do not like either of them.

E.g. If John shouts, tell him to keep quiet. If Ali shouts, tell him to keep quiet. => If either of the boys shouts, tell him to keep quiet.

This is used to join two negative ideas.(It is the opposite of both…and.)

E.g. I do not smoke. I do not drink. => I neither smoke nor drink.

E.g. The movie was not well made. It was not well acted.

=> The movie was neither well made nor well acted.

When subjects are connected by neither…nor, the subject closer to the verb will determine the number of the verb.

E.g. Yvonne was not at home. James was not at home. => Neither Yvonne nor James was at home.

E.g. Yvonne was not at home. Her parents were not at home. => Neither Yvonne nor her parents were at home.

We use neither of before a pronoun or a determiner (e.g. the, my, these). The noun or pronoun is plural.

E.g. My elder brother does not like to sing. My younger brother does not like to sing. => Neither of my brothers like sing.

E.g. My father is not selling his car. My uncle is not selling his car.=> Neither of them is selling his car.

After neither of + noun/pronoun, we use a singular verb.

E.g. My friend, Jenny, is not married. My friend, Joanne, is not married too. => Neither of my friends is married.

E.g. Hui Hui has passed her English test. Annie has passed her English test.=> Neither of the girls has failed her English test.

1. The girls do not know where the campsite is. The taxi driver does not know where it is either.

Neither the girls nor the taxi driver knows where

the campsite is.

2. Aziz does not like to eat vegetables. His brother does not like to eat vegetables too.

=> Aziz does not like to eat vegetables. Neither does his brother.

3. The sweater belongs to Arnold. The sweater belongs to Kenneth.

=> The sweater belongs to either Arnold or Kenneth.

4. You can take the bus to the interchange. You can walk to the interchange.

You can either take the bus or walk to the interchange.

5. Peter does not speak French. He does not speak German.

=> Peter speaks neither French nor German.

6. I dislike the red dress. I do not like the yellow one too.

=> I like neither the red dress nor the yellow

one.