neither
part of speech
determiner, pronoun (neither); conjunction (neither ... nor); adverb (neither — also not)
meaning for a pupil
1) Neither means not this one and not that one, of two. If neither cat is black, both cats are another colour. tree →
2) «Neither ... nor» joins two things that are both not true: «neither tea nor milk». tree →
3) «Me neither» or «neither do I» means I also do not. tree →
sense in the lessons
In school maths: used in logic and sorting problems (Venn diagrams): things that are in neither group, outside both circles. In everyday talk: «Which one? — Neither!», «I don't like spinach. — Me neither». Phrases: «neither ... nor», «neither of them», «me neither», «neither here nor there» (not important).
examples
- Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. (Torah DEU.5.20, JPS 1917) tree →
- neither shalt thou favour a poor man in his cause. (Torah EXO.23.3, JPS 1917) tree →
- Then I said unto you: 'Dread not, neither be afraid of them. (Torah DEU.1.29, JPS 1917) tree →
- And he said: 'Neither hath the LORD chosen this.' (Prophets 1SA.16.8, JPS 1917) tree →
- Behold, He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep. (Writings PSA.121.4, JPS 1917) tree →
- A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this. (Writings PSA.92.7, JPS 1917) tree →
- Neither Tom nor Ann has a red pen. tree →
- 5 pupils like neither tea nor milk. tree →
- Neither box holds more than 10 balls. tree →
- How many children play neither sport? tree →
- Neither of my brothers likes football. tree →
- «I can't swim.» «Me neither.» tree →
- In the Venn diagram, write the numbers in neither set outside the circles. tree →
- She was neither hungry nor tired. tree →
note
Say «NYE-ther» or «NEE-ther» — both are right. «Neither» takes a singular verb: «neither box is full». Use with «nor», not «or». Opposite of «both»; «either» means one or the other. Maths: points to the part outside both groups: total − (in first or second). Trap: forgetting the people who are in both groups when finding «neither».
In the corpora
- And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he lay even this to heart.
- Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.
- And a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
- neither shalt thou favour a poor man in his cause.
- And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «neither» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.