what is Problem in subject and verb number choice?
If you have, don't worry, you are not the only one. Thank you for your expert opinion. As Jim said, the more formally "correct" choice is the singular "has," because "neither of us" refers to "neither one of us." HELP ME with EITHER/NEITHER . While 'either' has a positive connotation, 'neither' holds a negative significance.
The use of neither with another negative, as in I don't like him neither or he's not much good at reading neither is recorded from the 16th century onwards, but is not thought to be good English. Neither definition is - not either. Enter email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. The nouns/pronouns are in agreement with one another. Neither of our cars has enough petrol so we have to take the bus.
We’ll consider other uses of either and neither in another article. Look for the either/or and neither/nor constructions. ‘I don’t feel like going to the party.’ ‘Me neither.’. In fiction we want our characters to speak (and think) as they actually would.
(From what I can tell, this is more common in AmE than in BrE.).
What a great blog! Is the conclusion that, in situations like this, one should reconstruct the sentence entirely. But do at least recognize when the the grammar isn’t standard or may be questionable. Have you ever had difficulties knowing when to use either and neither? [incorrect!] Either do I. The event was organized by two people, neither of whom is a professional.
Most of the time we want to be grammatically correct. Some of these that are right don’t sound right to the ear, do they? That’s up to you to decide. 4) “They shook their head,” or “They shook their heads”? nor the Conservative figures . I simply see misreading to be less likely with the plurals. So perhaps I should say “neither of us is a cardplayer” which sounds ridiculous to me. The reader will focus on what stands out. Either and neither can be used in several ways: adverbs, determiners, pronouns and conjunctions.
You will always find them paired up this way: either/or and neither/nor.
Thank you for reading The Editor's Blog, an Internet resource for fiction writers, freelance editors, and everyone who loves words. ? 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. Copyright © 2010-2018 E. A. Hill Visit Beth at A Novel Edit Write well. (4) John did not neither. How about nor and or? Neither of us expected to be fired.
5) “Both men relied heavily on their wives”—unless we’re talking two men married to the same woman, go with wives. She said that style guides don’t really address subject-complement agreement. The second condition kicks in when there are alternative subjects that share a single verb. 3) “The writers complained that their neck was sore” or “The writers complained that their necks were sore”?
In this case we’re talking about two subjects linked by or or nor. Either my sisters or his mother is singing in the pub tonight.
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.
But either and neither are still singular, even when followed by a prepositional phrase containing a plural object. Does either one of the boys want breakfast? That is, a misreading is possible either way. Yet correct isn’t always our first goal.
If each subject has its own verb, that’s a different scenario and a different use of either. (If a verb comes after this phrase then it is in singular form) The present is for neither of us. Definition and synonyms of neither from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education.
However, using “neither … nor” can sound unduly formal or even a little archaic.
Yet if you use either in place of neither in such a case (and without another negative word), you’re omitting the negative part of your reply. Don’t either of your kids want dessert?
. Would your characters always speak correctly? To convey the negative, use me neither.
Apart from the has/have question, I think there is something odd about this sentence. For all those instances when either and neither behave like pronouns, the structure of the sentence would be: either/neither followed by …
For fiction, we’d use the words the viewpoint character would use, so either would be acceptable. Such a wording is fairly common—perhaps idiomatic. Even if something is technically correct, if it isn’t clear, rewriting would be the best option. Neither did John.
If the subject closest to the verb is singular, use a singular verb. "Neither" is never paired with "or". Find out how good your English is in just 10 mins, DON’T MISS OUR LATEST POST
2) “We help clients get the most out of their life” or “We help clients get the most out of their lives”? Note that in a question format, the helping verb is the word that will be singular. The first sentence in this next example isn’t wrong, so you wouldn’t have to change it.
As for your examples, my personal choices follow—.
Neither the clients nor the accountant knows the combination.
If it isn’t clear, rewriting is always an option. Keep in mind that we’re talking subjects that share a verb. It’s when one subject is singular and the other plural that you have to pay attention. > Neither the blue one nor the red is available in size 4.
Very helpful, but can I refer you to Fowler’s Modern English Usage (13th edn), p. 518, subsection 4 where it gives an example ‘Neither the Conservative figures nor the evidence of Labour’s recovery since 1993 produce any sense of inexorable movement in political fortunes’, Times 1985. "Neither” can also start a sentence.
Also, does the same rule apply to regular “or” sentences? When using "neither" in a sentence, you are saying not the first object and not the second object are behaving in a certain way.
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If you want to avoid that, consider rewriting the sentence (e.g.
But I also can’t say “neither of us is cardplayers”.
When you learn English, it helps to know little grammar tricks that help you tell the difference between words like these. Either and neither are pronouns. You can head off potential problems by putting the plural subject second and using a plural verb.
“I’m not angry and I’m not upset.”) Can You Use “Either … Or ” and “Neither … . Neither the jockeys nor the horses have ever raced on that particular track. Write often. - No, I don't like them either. . Either they are “not” at home or they are sleeping (because they don’t answer the phone ). b- Neither of us have anything in common. The either/neither question I run into most often in real life is which of the following is correct: Me neither or me either? 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. > Both these roads go to Rome; you can go either way. 1) “They visited each other’s shrine” or “They visited each other’s shrines.”. 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. Either and neither are pronouns.
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 of the brothers want breakfast.
Neither is combined with a positive verb and comes first in the sentence and is followed by the verb. When neither is the subject of a sentence, it is usually used with a singular verb: Neither of the books was published in this country.
> You can either call me at home or at the office. I can’t play tennis, but neither can you. If you have questions, please ask. It was an experience that neither of us will ever forget. Either…or English speakers use either … or …
(Not “are”). Change your default dictionary to American English. When using Neither + of + pronoun (you, us, them), we need the preposition OF before that pronoun. Write for clarity and for a fit to the writing project (novel, article, thesis). > Either mum or dad will come to pick you up.
So I should really say something like “we aren’t cardplayers”.
Practice writing a few of these sentences yourself to see how well you grasp the concept Pronouns.
Adams was not invited, and neither were any of his friends. X. Doesn’t either of your kids want dessert? Tags: pronouns, verb tense Posted in: Grammar & Punctuation. 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 either. neither/nor - When they're paired up they negate both parts of a statement. For example, "Alex wants either candy or cake." _____ Condition One. Neither the accountant nor his clients know the combination.
I don’t either. a- Neither of us has anything in common.
Either the lone tiger or the three elephants are going to be cut from the second act.
That’s what I thought. Kathy, some people do say me either when they mean me neither. In this second condition, readers might be bothered by a plural subject being followed by a singular verb. Neither of my brothers wants to be left at home. If the closest subject is plural, use a plural verb. There is no one absolute answer here. Still, it pays to know what is considered correct. X. Either Larry or the Wilson boys hold the record.
Those that truly sound wrong are the examples with the preposition of (of your daughters, of yours) following either or neither.
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