UNIT 5
   SO1, NEITHER, NOR, EITHER

1  Examples: (Use so and the words in brackets.)
   —I’ve got a terrible cold. (I)
   —So have I2. (interrogative order, or inversion3)

a  My father has been a pilot for ten years. (mine)
b  I’m going to the hairdresser’s. (I)
c  I want to become a plumber when I grow up. (Peter)
d  He bought a bottle-opener. (my grandmother)
e  We should visit our parents. (they)
f  Mary lives abroad. (Amanda)
g  I’ll see to it right away. (I)
h  John teaches French. (Michael)
i  Anita reads a lot. (the people next door)
j  You are getting on my nerves. (you)


2  Example: (Use so and the words in brackets.)
   I love peanunts. (my wife)
   I love peanunts, and4 so does my wife.

a  This barrel is leaking. (that one)
b  We are going to follow their advice. (Molly)
c  Our cat miaows every night. (hers)
d  My uncle always apologises when he does something
   wrong. (my aunt)
e  Brenda is an air-hostess. (Nancy)
f  She worships money. (her husband)
g  You always arrive late. (your partner)
h  Paul plays cards once in a blue moon. (Richard)
i  He spent all his wealth on charity organisations.
   (his cousin)
j  He stepped in a dog’s excrement. (she)


3  Examples: (Use neither or nor, and the words in brackets.)
   —I won’t/will not accept bribes. (I)
   —Neither/Nor will I5. (‘Nor’ is less formal.)

  Barely, escarcely, hardly, never, and so on, have a negative
   meaning. Consequently, they are treated as negatives:
     I never eat garlic.
     Neither do I.
   See also units 3 (section 11) and 14 (section 9).

a  Our friendship will never perish. (theirs)
b  I wasn’t introduced to the monarchs. (Gertrude)
c  Her daughter doesn’t take care of her. (her son)
d  They won’t refund me the money I paid for it. (we)
e  They didn’t take him seriously. (you)
f  They couldn’t have given themselves up to the police.
   (my niece)
g  I wasn’t informed of your resignation. (my nephew)
h  He didn’t know that you’ve been given the sack.
   (his cousin)
i  They weren’t caught red-handed. (Gloria)
j  I don’t want to grow old. (we)


4  Examples: (Use neither or nor, and the words in brackets.)
   They didn’t get lost. (I)
   They didn’t get lost, and neither/nor did I.

   But is sometimes used instead of and: They didn’t get lost,
   but6 neither/nor did I.

a  I never carry a revolver. (Alan)
b  They rarely brush their teeth. (Linda)
c  He isn’t a cook. (she)
d  She wasn’t sent to jail for theft. (her husband)
e  The shops weren’t shut. (the restaurants)
f  My sister never takes things for granted.
   (my stepdaughter)
g  I didn’t subscribe to his point of view. (my friends)
h  We didn’t accept the harsh reality. (they)
i  We won’t polish the floor. (she)
j  I needn’t wash the dishes. (my sister)


5  Revision exercise.
a  You will be put behind bars. (I)
b  He wasn’t tired out. (Rita)
c  We were outraged by her behaviour. (we)
d  We should memorise it word for word. (you)
e  They won’t let you by. (he)
f  I can’t work out how much it will cost us. (I)
g  You should slow down at weekends. (your partner)
h  She refuses to talk to me. (her father)
i  I didn’t witness the accident. (my children)
j  Edgar and Jane have missed their flight. (we)
k  Her children mean the world to her. (her husband)
l  He gave the lurid details of his crime. (his lawyer)
m  Gloria didn’t scorch your jacket. (Constance)
n  My history teacher failed me without any concern.
   (my literature teacher)
o  Her story made me cold with fear. (his)
p  Her boy-friend sat next to me. (her sister)
q  His grandad heard her saying that we are very spoilt.
   (my mum)
r  My son came home roaring drunk last night. (mine)
s  She’s got a henpecked husband. (her sister)
t  Raymond dropped us a line. (Philippa)
u  Olive didn’t curl her hair. (Nicola)
v  He wasn’t shaken by the death of his ex.
   (her brother)
w  We walked arm in arm along the corridor. (they)
x  We’re heading for Colombia. (we)
y  The main character in my novel is a little girl.
   (the main character in my novel)
z  Her uncle is loaded. (her man)


6  Examples: (Now use either)
   —I won’t eat this porridge. (he)
   —He won’t (eat it) either.
   (OR)
   I won’t eat this porridge, and/but he won’t (eat it) either.

a  He didn’t pound on my door last night. (she)
b  They don’t usually tease him. (we)
c  We don’t have a spare wheel. (we)
d  I can’t go step by step. (Sarah)
e  They haven’t got a grater. (we)
f  The motel wasn’t crowded. (the restaurant)
g  Tom can’t milk a cow. (Sheila)
h  I will never figure Steve out. (Peter)
i  I’m not going to put up with her jokes any more.
   (her boy-friend)
j  Annette wasn’t elected chairwoman at random. (her mother)


7  Examples: (either...or; neither...nor)
   Either Eve or Ann is pulling my leg.
   Neither Eve nor Ann is taking swimming lessons.
   Either my nephew or my neighbours have made up the story.
   Either my neighbours or my nephew has made up the story.
   Neither the people next door (plural) nor Ann is honest.
   Neither Ann nor the people next door are honest.

   After either...or and neither...nor, the last element agrees
   with the verb. Nevertheless, in more informal speech or
   writing, we can find sentences such as Neither Eve nor Ann
   are taking swimming lessons, which is possibly gaining
   ground among English speakers.

   Some people would avoid saying Either Peter or I am giving
   Mary a lift to the station, and would use Either Peter or I
   are giving Mary a lift to the station. Another alternative
   to this sentence would be Either Peter or I will be giving
   Mary a lift to the station.

   Either...or and neither...nor can also be used in other
   positions:
     I drink neither coffee nor tea.
     They neither speak English nor study French.
     Either you help me or I’ll tell your parents what you
     have done.
     I want either a belt or some money.
     You can either study or work.

   Instead of neither...nor, not (...either)...or is usually
   possible:
     I don’t drink (either) coffee or tea.
     I don’t speak (either) Italian or French.
   Either can be ommitted here.

   Either and neither must be followed by of if we have a
   pronoun or a determiner + a plural form7:
     Neither of them is interested in your project.
     Either of you has broken my coffee cups.
     Neither of my sisters is abroad.
     Either of these rooms will serve me as a study.

   Nonetheless, we can leave out the prepositon of, and
   use a singular noun:
     Neither sister is abroad.
     Either room will serve me as a study.

   It is also possible to drop the preposition of +
   the pronoun (or the determiner + the plural noun) when
   there is no need to mention the people or things we are
   referring to:
     Neither is abroad.
     Either will serve me as a study.

   And last, but not least, either and neither are used for
   two people or things, or two groups of people or of things.
   See unit 15, section 1.

   Fill in the blanks with either, neither, of, nor, or, and
   the appropriate form of the verbs in brakets:

a  __________ you postpone the meeting __________ I (make)
   sure you are not elected chairman of the committee.
b  __________ you attend school __________ you (be expelled).
c  Neither __________ them (be) intelligent.
d  Neither Alfred __________ Jennifer (tolerate) her.
e  __________ Paul nor his workmates (be) right.
f  Either someone deceived her __________ she (make) up
   the story.
g  I can’t speak __________ Italian __________ Portuguese.
h  They don’t wear shoes __________ skirts
i  __________ child (be) studying hard. They will fail.
j  John was __________ at home __________ at the library.
   I looked for him in these two places, but he wasn’t there.


8  Examples: (neither...nor)
   Neither Molly nor John is getting better.
   Neither in general nor in detail do I agree with you.
   Julia neither works nor studies.
   Tom neither eats meat, nor does he drink alcohol.
   They never take any chances, (and/but) nor do they trust
   anybody, I must say.

   In the first example, neither Molly nor John is the subject
   of the sentence. In the second, neither in general nor in
   detail is not the subject. Hence we need an interrogative
   order, called inversion8. In the third, we do not mention
   the subject after nor; but, in the fourth, we repeat the
   subject and, consequently, inversion is required. The same
   goes for the fifth instance. Compare the second, fourth
   and fifth sentences above with the following ones:
     I agree with you neither in general nor in detail.
     Tom neither eats meat nor drinks alcohol. (This
     alternative is much preferred to the one with inversion.)
     They neither take any chances nor trust anybody, I must
     say.
     They never take any chances, but/and they do not trust
     anybody either, I must say.

   Write the verbs in brackets in the appropriate form. At
   times, inversion is required.

a  She neither makes up her face, nor she (dress) well.
b  She neither makes up her face nor (dress) well.
c  Cigarette factories are unwilling to recognise that
   tobacco produces addiction. Nor they (wish) to admit
   that many people die from it.
d  I shall not allow a single spelling mistake in
   your exam papers, nor Miss Wright (will).
e  I know that neither Martha nor you (be) ill yesterday.
   So why didn’t you attend school?
f  Neither now nor in a hundred years they (find) out the truth.
g  I don’t think she deserves such treatment, nor he (do).
h  Neither Madrid nor Santander (be) bombed during the Second
   World War.
i  The mountains bends (be) neither sharp nor dangerous to drive.
j  He did not clear up that rubble, nor he (buy) a sack
   of cement.


9  Revision exercise: (Rewrite the following sentences
   without changing their meaning.)

   Example:
     If you don’t tell me the truth, I won’t forgive you.
     Either you tell me the truth or I won’t forgive you.

a  Her argument does not hold water. Yours doesn’t either.
b  She is permissive. Her husband is also permissive.
c  Marilyn didn’t stumble over a piece of wood. John didn’t
   stumble over a piece of wood.
d  —Her flowers withered.
   —His flowers withered too.
e  —I won’t tow his car to the local garage.
   —I won’t either.
f  Your handwriting is illegible. Hers too.
g  We shall have to close the shop down. They will also have
   to close down.
h  Somebody is always picking on me for the worst jobs in this
   factory. It must be either Ann or Molly.
i  I fell for her. My friend too.
j  I know this area like the back of my hand. She does too.
k  She never blushes. She never smiles.
l  The boys didn’t object to my smoking in the room.
m  They don’t own a walled garden. I don’t either.
n  Someone poisoned me. Tom and George are the only people who
   could have done such a thing, but I know it was only one
   of them.
o  Mark didn’t miss the bus. His niece didn’t either.
p  If you don’t give me a lollipop, I’ll tell dad.
q  You will end up in a remand home unless you spill the beans.
r  He is very immature for his age. You are too.
s  Eric and Luke aren’t searching for adventure.
t  She won’t take bribes. He won’t either.
u  The two men will suit me perfectly, but I need only one
   of them.
v  I don’t care a damn. You don’t either.
w  —I was fined two hundred pounds for dangerous driving.
   —We were also fined two hundred pounds for dangerous driving.
x  —I don’t dread crocodiles.
   —I don’t either.
y  If you don’t get rid of that horrendous toy, you’ll be
   punished.
z  His foster-brother lives for his wedding day. His future
   wife does too.


____________________
1  For other structures with so, see unit 17, sections 5, 6 and 7.
2  The following sentence is synonymous with the one with so:
   I have also got a terrible cold. As well and too are possible
   instead of also, but they are placed at the end of the
   sentence and are less formal: I’ve got a terrible cold
   too/as well; or, I have too/as well. Me too is a very informal
   alternative: ‘I’ve got a terrible cold.’ ‘Me too.’
3  See unit 29.
4  But can be used instead of and, but it is more emphatic:
   I love peanunts, but so does my wife.
5  Neither is the opposite of so. Other alternatives:
     I won’t/will not (accept bribes) either.
     Me neither. (informal)
6  But is more emphatic than and.
7  Informally, we can use a plural verb after neither and
   either + of + a pronoun (or a determiner + a plural noun):
     Neither of them go(es) to church regularly.
     Neither of the boys is/are from Manchester.
     I don’t think either of them is/are capable of doing
     such a thing.
     Either of these two girls is/are suitable for the job.
8  For inversion, see unit 29.

Author: Miquel Molina i Diez