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Both / both of......neither / neither of......either / either of !!

Both / both of......neither / neither of......either / either of !!

Date: Nov 06 2007

Topic: Grammar

Author: alshehri2005

Lesson

We use both/neither/either for two things. You can use these words with a noun (both books, neither book   etc.).

For example, you are talking about going out to eat this evening. There are two restaurants where you can go. You say:

·        Both restaurants are very good. (not ‘ the both restaurants’).

·        Neither restaurant is expensive.

·        We can go to either restaurant. I don’t mind. ( either=one or the other, it doesn’t matter which one)

  Both of... / neither of…/ either of…

When we use both/neither/either + of, you always need the …/ these/ those…/ my/ yours/ his/ Tom’s…. (etc.). You cannot say ‘both of restaurants’. You have to say ‘both of the restaurants’, ‘both of those restaurants’ etc. :

·        Both of these restaurants are very good.

·        Neither of the restaurants we went to was (or were) expensive.

·        I haven’t been to be either of those restaurants. (= I haven’t been to one or the other)

  You don’t need of after both. So you can say:

·        Both my parents are from London.    or     Both of my parents….

 You can use both of / neither of / either of + us/you/them:

·        (talking to two people) Can either of you speaking Spanish?

·        I asked two people the way to the station but neither of them knew.

 You must say ‘both of’ before us/you/them (of is necessary):

·        Both of us were very tired. (not ‘ Both us were…’)

After neither of... a singular or a plural verb is possible:

·        Neither of the children wants ( or want) to go to bed.

   You can also use both/neither/either alone:

·        I couldn’t decide which of the two shirts to buy. I liked both. ( or I liked both of them. )

·        ‘Is your friend British or American?’     Neither. She’s Australian.’

·        ‘Do you want tea or coffee?’   Either. I don’t mind.’

You can say: Bothand…:

·        Both Sara and Abdullah were late.

·        I was both tired and hungry when I arrived home.

 Neither ….nor…:

·        Neither Ali nor Omer came to the party.

·        She said she would contact me but she neither wrote nor phoned.  

Eitheror…:

·        I’m not sure where he’s from. He’s either Arabic or Italian.

·        Either you apologies or I’ll never speak to you again.

  Compare either/neither/both (two things) and any/none/all (more than two):

·        There are two good hotels in the town. You can stay at either of them.

·        There are many good hotels in the town. You can stay at any of them.

·        We tried two hotels. Neither of them had any rooms. / Both of them were full.

·        We tried a lot of hotels. None of them had any rooms. / All of them were full.

English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy .............It ‘s so nice !

Comments

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Sagete Rooselft

United States

hi

they're just preps,you use them wtih other nouns,verbs  and so on .you dont need to know every thing about them just understand the basic meaning of them and care bout their tendency!

well,dont forget to remember some typical presentations !

that's it !

08:16 AM Feb 22 2008 |

Hilman3

Indonesia

thanks a lot friend

03:13 AM Feb 22 2008 |

Andrews9009

China

Useful lesson

03:06 AM Feb 22 2008 |

Andrews9009

China

thank you very much,its realy useful and helpful.

 

03:05 AM Feb 22 2008 |

k@ny0y@

k@ny0y@

Chile

ok…Undecided

09:10 PM Feb 21 2008 |

chamaha

chamaha

Sri Lanka

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05:05 PM Feb 21 2008 |

maria_flora

Morocco

i'm new in this site but i'm very terrible in english i need to your help please can you help me for amelioration tank you

i'm from marocco

04:51 PM Feb 21 2008 |

chamaha

chamaha

Sri Lanka

i like this lesson

04:32 PM Feb 21 2008 |

naveensafe

India

it is very useful 4 me

12:34 PM Feb 21 2008 |

200752127

200752127

Qatar

thanks it is very usefull . i like it

12:18 PM Feb 21 2008 |

Marwa

Egypt

This is very useful, I used to stuck with how to use those words. Thank you very much for your help.

11:38 AM Feb 21 2008 |

Allymay

Taiwan

They are very clear. Good for me.

11:05 AM Feb 21 2008 |

Allymay

Taiwan

They are very clear.

11:03 AM Feb 21 2008 |

Allymay

Taiwan

They are good for me.

Thanks.

11:02 AM Feb 21 2008 |

bassam11

bassam11

Yemen

goooooooood

thanks alot

10:03 AM Feb 21 2008 |

Sandy_xiaoyu

China

TKS, it is usefulLaughing

08:55 AM Feb 21 2008 |

marushkebi_86

Georgia

I find it very easy and interesting. I have forgotten almost everythin in english :( That is so sad :(

06:21 AM Feb 21 2008 |

duongngan87

Viet Nam

it's great!! it's very useful for me, your explaning is very easy to understand. thanks so much!!!

05:42 AM Feb 21 2008 |

dodo77

Saudi Arabia

thank you very mutch my brother

its really an useful topic and i benefited frome it more

may Allah bless you

thanks alot

04:00 AM Feb 21 2008 |

dodo77

Saudi Arabia

thank you very mutch my brother

its really an useful topic and i benefited frome it more

may Allah bless you

thanks alot

03:59 AM Feb 21 2008 |

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