either, neither

[Xyz]

Please correct the mistakes

1. Either shirts is/are beautiful.
2. Either sheep is/are beautiful.

3. I bought shirts, but either of them is/are … (do ‘shirts’ suggest ‘two pairs of shirts’?)
4. I bought sheep, but either of them is/are … (does ‘sheep’ suggest 2 sheep?)

5. Either a goat or sheep is/are…

6. He dislikes neither toy.

Are both interchangeable?
7.1 I like either team.
7.2 I like either of the teams.

8.1 He just doesn’t care what either of his parents say(s)
8.2 He just doesn’t care what either parent say(s)

[Beeesneees]

1. Either shirt is beautiful. (that is, either one of the shirts, so singular)
2. Either sheep is beautiful (the same rule)

3. I bought shirts, but neither of them are... (shirts suggest two or more shirts, but not two pairs of shirts. A pair is one set of two. 'Neither' or 'either' indicates exactly two).
4. I bought sheep, but neither of them are... (sheep is the same for singular or plural, however 'neither' or 'either' indicates exactly two)

5. Either a goat or a sheep is...

6. He dislikes neither toy (Therefore there are two (because of 'neither') and he likes them both.)

7. Yes. (Use of 'either' means there are two teams.)

8. Correct (both sentences)
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Cheers m' dears!

[Alan]

Hi Xyz,

I am confused about your sentences:

3. I bought shirts, but either of them is/are …
4. I bought sheep, but either of them is/are …

In sentences (3) and (4) there is no indication of how many shirts/sheep there are. There is therefore nothing logical about using either/neither immediately afterwards because there are no alternatives. You could say: Each one is ... or none of them is ... or they are all and so on. With 'either' 'neither' you must have some kind of choice.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Beeesneees]

That's why i changed 'either' to 'neither'.
_________________
Cheers m' dears!

[Fadihalloun]

I know that I can say: "I have suggested neither you nor your brother for the trip;"

but I am confused if I can put a sentence in negative and use neither...nor as following: I don't love neither pepsi nor cocacola.

Please clarify,

Fadi Halloun

[Alan]

Hi,

I don't see that makes any difference. 'Either' and 'neither' still should offer alternatives.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Fadihalloun]

is "both of us" is equivalent to "we" once "we" indicates two people: I and the other individual?

[Alan]

Hi,

Yes, 'Both of us' means 'the two of us' and that ultimately means 'we'.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Passive Voice

[Fadihalloun]

So as far as I have understood from your explanation that we could use "neither...nor" in a negative sentence; which is to say that "I don't love neither pepsi nor cocacola" still means "I love neither pepsi nor cocacola;" which is equivalent also to "I don't love either pepsi or cocacola."

Thanks for the supportive explanation

[Alan]

Hi,

Remember that 'neither' and 'nor' already show the negative meaning and so 'I don't' is not needed. It should be: I love neither *** nor ***.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Prepositions

[Hanifasmm]

Mr. Alan,
I bought two shirts, but neither of them are good. =
I bought two shirts, but either of them are bad.
Are the two sentences OK?
Do they mean the same?
Please comment.
Thanks,
Er.S.M.M.Hanifa

[Alan]

Hi,

I bought two shirts, but neither of them IS good. =
I bought two shirts, but EACH of them IS bad.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Make or Do?

[Beeesneees]

I bought two shirts, but neither of them are any good.
I bought two shirts, but both of them are bad.
I bought two shirts, either one is bad.

These sentences mean the same.
_________________
Cheers m' dears!

[Alan]

Hi,

I thought either/neither attracted a singular verb especially as we're just talking about two shirts. And 'either one is bad' doesn't make sense to me.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Indirect Speech

[Beeesneees]

You're right now I'm looking at it afresh. I tried out lots of combinations in an effort to be thorough but think I ended up getting the equivalent of snow blind.
_________________
Cheers m' dears!