Either, Neither, Both

How do we use Either, Neither, and Both

1) Both
Both means two of two things.
I have two dogs. I like both of them.

 

2) Neither
Neither means not one or the other of two things.
Neither of my dogs is white.

Remember to use a singular verb after neither.
Neither of the dogs are dangerous. => Neither of the dogs is dangerous.

 

3) Either
Either means one or the other.
There are two drinks. Please have one. You can have either one.

 

Form:

 

1) You can use both, neither and either directly before a noun.
Both shops are good.
Neither shop sells electrical goods.
We can go to either shop, I don’t mind.

 

2) Both, neither and either are often used with ‘of’. But you must always use a determiner (the, my, these, those, his etc) before the noun.

Both of children like vanilla cake. => Both of the children like vanilla cake.

However, you don’t have to use of with both.
Both of the children like vanilla cake.
Both children like vanilla cake.

 

3) You can use both, neither and eitherof + object pronoun(you, them, us).

Both of them wore pink dresses. 
Neither of us was on time. 
Have either of you got a pen?

 

4) You can use both … and neither … nor , and either … or ….
Examples:
Both Inge and Marian work here.
Neither Inge nor Marian works here.
You can ask either Inge or Marian.

 

Image by Szilárd Szabó from Pixabay 

Deja un comentario

Tu dirección de correo electrónico no será publicada. Los campos obligatorios están marcados con *