both
- 01 A1 Beginner
det.used to refer to two people or things together.
det.used before a plural noun or 'of' to refer to two entities previously mentioned or easily identified.
Simple“Both sisters have the same green eyes as their mother.”
In context“Both candidates presented compelling arguments during the debate, making it difficult for the committee to reach a final decision.”
UsageCan be used directly before a noun or followed by 'of' plus a determiner.
PitfallBoth of students were late. Both of the students were late.When using 'both of', you must include a determiner like 'the', 'these', or 'my' before the noun.
Synonymsthe twoAntonyms - 02 A1 Beginner
pron.used on its own to mean 'the two people' or 'the two things'.
pron.functions as a substitute for a noun phrase referring to two people or things.
Simple“I have two brothers and both are taller than me.”
In context“The museum offered two distinct tours of the estate, and we decided to attend both to get a full history of the grounds.”
UsageTakes a plural verb form.
- 03 A1 Beginner
conj.used with 'and' to emphasize that two different things are true.
conj.a correlative conjunction used to emphasize the link between two coordinated entities or qualities.
Simple“The hotel was both cheap and very clean.”
In context“The new policy is designed to be both economically sustainable and environmentally responsible over the long term.”
UsageAlways paired with 'and' to connect two words or phrases of the same grammatical type.
PitfallThe movie was both long but also boring. The movie was both long and boring.The word 'both' must be paired with 'and', not 'but also' or 'as well as'.
Synonymsnot only... but alsoAntonymsneither... nor
From Middle English bothe, boþe, from Old English bā þā (“both the; both those”) and possibly reinforced by Old Norse báðir, from Proto-Germanic *bai. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bee (“both”), West Frisian beide (“both”), Dutch beide (“both”), German beide (“both”), Swedish både, båda, Danish både, Norwegian både, Icelandic báðir. Replaced Middle English bō, from Old English bā, a form of Old English bēġen. A remnant of the Indo-European dual grammatical number.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.