Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[navi]

Which of the following sentences are correct:

1a-He was the only person either to call the police or to help the victim. Actually he did both.
1b-He was either the only person to call the police or to help the victim. Actually he did both.

2a-He was the only person either to call the police or to help the victim. I don't know which.
2b-He was either the only person to call the police or to help the victim. I don't know which.

3a-He was the only person either to call the police or to help the victim. Nobody else lifted a finger. You say somebody called the police but that is not true. At least he helped the victim.
3b-He was either the only person to call the police or to help the victim. Nobody else lifted a finger. You say somebody called the police but that is not true. At least he helped the victim.

In the first couple of sentences, he was the only person who did either of the two things and as a matter of fact he did both.


In the second couple, he was the only person to do either of the two things. I know know which of the two things he did.

In the third pair, he helped the victim. There were two things that could be done. Nobody did either of them except him, who helped the victim.

[asterix]

1a)., 2b). 3a).

For 3 why not just say, "He was the only person to help the victim"?