neither
- 01 B1 Intermediate
pron.not one of two people or things, used on its own.
pron.a negative pronoun referring to two people or things previously mentioned or understood.
Simple“I tried two different keys, but neither worked in the lock.”
In context“Two proposals were submitted to the board, but neither of them addressed the core issue of long-term sustainability.”
UsageOften followed by 'of' plus a plural noun or pronoun.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B1 Intermediate
conj.used with 'nor' to connect two negative ideas or choices.
conj.the first part of a correlative conjunction pair used to link two negative possibilities.
Simple“The hotel was neither clean nor comfortable.”
In context“The report was neither accurate in its data nor helpful in its recommendations for future growth.”
UsagePairs exclusively with 'nor' to connect words or phrases of the same grammatical type.
PitfallI neither like tea or coffee. I neither like tea nor coffee.The word 'neither' must be paired with 'nor', not 'or'.
Antonymsboth... and - 03 B1 Intermediate
adv.used to show that a negative statement is also true for someone else.
adv.used to introduce a further negative statement or to agree with a negative remark.
Simple“I don't like cold weather, and neither does my sister.”
In context“The first experiment failed to produce results, and neither did the subsequent attempts using the same methodology.”
UsageIn formal writing, it often triggers subject-auxiliary inversion, as in 'Neither do I'.
Alteration (after either) of nauther, from Middle English neiþer, from Old English nāwþer, contraction of nāhwæþer, corresponding to no + whether. Compare Latin neuter (“neither”). By surface analysis, not + either.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.