neither

neither

1. pronunciation.

Both pronunciations, niy-dhǝ and nee-dhǝ, are about equally common.

2. parts of speech.

Neither functions in two ways: as an adjective or pronoun, and as an adverb or conjunction.

a) adjective and pronoun. Neither means ‘not the one nor the other (of two things)’: Neither child knew the answer / Neither wanted to stay / Neither of them is right. When more than two items are involved, no is preferable for the adjective and none for the pronoun, although neither tends to be used informally especially for the pronoun. Normally neither governs a singular verb, but with the type neither of (+ plural) a plural construction is sometimes used to emphasize the plurality of the statement as a whole: Neither of them are suitable.

b) adverb and conjunction. Neither is regularly paired with nor, linking two subjects. If both subjects are singular and in the third person, the verb should normally be singular:

Neither its chairman, Sir Frederick Dainton, nor its chief executive, Kenneth Cooper, is planning any dramatic gestures —Times, 1985

. But a plural verb is also attested historically and is still often found, especially when the essential plurality that is always present in neither comes to the fore:

Neither search nor labour are necessary —Dr Johnson, 1759

/

But neither Baker nor Bush are needed for that —Newsweek, 1991

. As an adverb, neither can be used with nor to link more than two items:

Buildings made of some translucent and subtly incandescent material, neither glass nor stone nor steel —Penelope Lively, 1991

. Neither is used as a quasi-conjunction in constructions of the informal type He's had no breakfast. Neither did he want any, in which it is a substitute for nor.

3. change of number and person with neither…nor…

Complications occur when the number (singular or plural) of the two subjects is different. If either of the subjects (especially the second) is plural, the verb is normally plural:

• Neither the Conservative figures nor the evidence of Labour's recovery since 1983 produce any sense of inexorable movement in political fortunes —Times, 1985.

A mixture of persons is more difficult, and can normally only be resolved by rephrasing, so that (e.g.) Neither you nor I am/are/is the right person becomes You are not the right person, and neither [or nor] am I.

4. position of neither and nor.

The position of neither and nor should be such that the grammatical structures are correctly balanced, as in This suits neither one purpose nor the other but not in ☒ This neither suits one purpose nor the other.

5. neither followed by or.

Although the OED gives plenty of literary evidence for neither followed by or rather than nor (e.g.

• I can neither tell how many we kill'd, or how many we wounded —Daniel Defoe, 1719)

in current usage this is considered incorrect and should be avoided.

6. neither replacing nor.

When nor follows a negative statement (not necessarily one with neither) and introduces a different grammatical subject, it can be replaced by neither:

• Becky is killed accidentally. The police don't care much; neither does Henry's wife —Publishers Weekly, 1974.