Both, Either, Neither

Both, Either, Neither

Hello, English learners. Welcome to a new lesson. We will talk about both, either, neither. These three words have one thing in common. We use them to talk about two people or things.

• Both brothers had brown hair. (Two brothers)
• Either of the runners could win the race. (any of the two runners)
• Love can be neither bought nor sold.

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Both

We use both with plural nouns when referring to two people or things together.

• Sara held the rope with both hands.
• I wish you both a happy and prosperous life.
• Both their daughters were huge animal lovers.

Both of + object pronoun

When both is part of a subject or object, it is normally followed by of + object pronoun:

• Both of them were excellent swimmers.
• They invited both of us to the party.

Both…and…

We use the correlative conjunction both…and… to join two things of equal importance.

• They grow both wheat and soy on their farm.
• Italy has frontiers with both Switzerland and France.
• Holidays in this resort are both cheap and enjoyable.

Either

We use either with singular countable nouns to talk about two options. Here, either means any of the two.

• You can take either road to get to the village.
• Either raincoat will be alright.
• You can park on either side of the street.

Either of

Either is followed by of if it goes before the, these, those or possessives with a plural noun.

• Either of the dictionaries is good.
• You can prove the rule by using either of these methods.
• There is no simple answer to either of your questions.

Either…or…

We can use either…or… to connect two options:

• People working in the factory were either divorced or separated from their partners.
• She is the kind of person you either love or hate.
• Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. (Helen Keller)

Neither

We use neither with singular countable nouns to make a negative statement about two things or people.

• Neither suit fitted him.
• If you watch two things at the same time, you will see neither.
• Monica didn’t like horror films, and neither did her husband.

Neither… nor

We use correlative conjunction neither..nor… to connect two negative options.

• Neither Nate nor Martin could ride a bicycle.
• Mark could speak neither Japanese nor Chinese.
• Sandra was neither surprised nor confused when she heard the news.

Neither of + object  can be used with both singular and plural verbs:

• Neither of my sisters has  (have) blond hair.
• Neither of us enjoy (enjoys) swimming.

Check out the lesson about correlative conjunctions here.

Download PDF exercise on Both-Either-Neither here

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