Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[pink]

Hi everyone,
Can you explain to me the differences between neither and either?
Have a nice day

Pink

[cgage]

"Neither" is negative. Neither of them will be allowed to go.
You can choose either one.

[LucentShade]

I forget exactly where it is, but if you take a look at my old posts, you can find another discussion on this issue that we had a few months ago. To answer this question:

"Neither" means "not A or B," where A & B can stand for things, people, concepts, or actions.

--Neither of his answers were correct; they were both wrong.
(For example, if "he" had answered "2003" and "Friday" to the questions "What year is it?" and "What day is it?" both of his answers would be wrong.)

"Either" means "A and/or B."

--You can take either of these streets to get to the park. (Both streets will lead to the park.)

The problem is that "either" can take a negative meaning when it follows [negative word] + [verb].

--I don't like apples, and I don't like oranges, either. //This change is because of the English "Double Negative" rules. The sentence could also read, "I like neither apples nor oranges," although the second way is less common in conversation. ("Nor" == "or" when it is used negatively, and usually appears along with "neither" in constructions like the one above.)

[pink]

Thanks