II. Neither, neither of.
REMEMBER:
- Neither and neither of are used to make a statement about 2
people or things.
- Neither is used in front of a singular form.
- Neither of is used in front of a plural form beginning with
'the', 'these', 'those' or a possessive.
Neither
- Typical mistake: Neither her friends remembered her birthday.
Neither is used before a singular noun when there is no article,
possessive or demonstrative word. The verb is singular
Neither friend remembered her birthday.
Neither book is interesting.
Neither is used alone as a pronoun.
Which dress do you prefer? Neither is nice.
Is Ussama Bin Laden Afghan or Pakistani? Neither. He's Saudi.
Neither of
Neither of is used before a plural noun which has an article,
a possessive or a demonstrative word with it (the/these/those/my/yours/his…).
Neither of her friends remembered her birthday.
Neither of the students were disappointed by their year abroad.
WARNING: - Do not use 'neither' without 'of' in front of a plural
form (Don't say: Neither the children was hurt).
- Do not use 'not' after 'neither' (Don't say: Neither of the
children wasn't hurt).
Neither of is also used before 'us, you, them'
Neither of us can understand what the teacher is saying.
Neither of them wants to study for the exam.
Neither of can be used with a singular or plural verb but a singular
verb is preferred in written English.
Neither of the teachers like (or likes) disruptive students.
Neither of us is (or are) ready for the exam.
Inversion after neither
- Neither means 'also not'.
- If a negative statement has been made, you can use neither to
indicate that this statement also applies to another person or
thing.
- Are used at the beginning of clauses and short answers and are
followed by inverted word-order: neither + auxiliary/modal/be
+ subject.
The talibans don't want to surrender. Neither does Ussama Bin
Laden.
I can't manage to get up every morning. Neither can I.
I haven't finished writing my dissertation yet. Neither have I.
Neither…nor
- Used to link 2 words of the same type to make a negative statement
about 2 people, things, qualities or actions.
- 'Neither' is in front of the 1st word, 'nor' in front of the
2nd.
Neither the United-States nor France will end the war until Ussama
Bin Laden is caught.
He neither goes to class nor studies at home.
- WARNING: Do not use 'or' after 'neither' (Don't say: He neither
goes to class or studies at home).
Exercise: Correct the sentences.
- 1. She hasn't finished her assignment yet, and neither I have.
- 2. I didn't know the answer and he didn't either.
- 3. Neither his teachers gave him a good grade.
- 4. Neither books were interesting.
- 5. Neither of the students had not done their homework.
Correction:
1. She hasn't finished her assignment yet and neither have I.
2. I didn't know the answer and neither did he.
3. Neither teacher gave him a good grade.
4. Neither of the books were interesting.
5. Neither of the students had done their homework.
