Either-Or, Neither-Nor: How to Use Correctly

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Summary

Use either-or to affirm the one or the other of two alternatives; neither-nor to negate them.

Examples

• I want either a cupcake or a muffin.
• You can have neither a cupcake nor a muffin.

Don’t use either to present more than two alternatives, but neither-nor can be used with more than two.

Examples

• I can bake cupcakes, muffins, or pies. Which do you prefer?
• I can bake neither cupcakes nor muffins nor pies, but I do know how to boil an egg.

Make sure the alternatives are grammatically balanced and parallel in structure.

Examples

• Poor: I either

   

  want a cupcake

   

  or

   

  a muffin

   

  .

  Better: I want either

   

  a cupcake

   

  or

   

  a muffin

   

  .

• Poor: You can neither

   

  have a cupcake

   

  nor

   

  a muffin

   

  .

  Better: You can have neither

   

  a cupcake

   

  nor

   

  a muffin

   

  .

Use subject pronouns like I and they in the subject position, and object pronouns like me and them in the object position.

Examples

• Either Rita or I can eat the muffin.
• This muffin is for neither Rita nor me.

The verb used should agree with the part closest to it.

Examples

• Either Rita or

   

  her friends

   

  are going to eat all the cupcakes.

• Either Rita’s friends or

   

  she

   

  is going to eat all the muffins.

Infographic: How to use either-or and neither-nor correctly

How to use

Use the either-or and neither-nor pairs to refer to the one or the other of two alternatives. Either-or affirms each of two alternatives, while neither-nor simultaneously negates them.

Examples

• Either my mother or my father will call.
• Neither the pizza nor the ice-cream is here.
• Rita wants either a motorcycle or a water scooter for her birthday.
• Poco likes neither tea nor coffee; he prefers carrot juice.

Either-or and neither-nor constructions act as conjunctions: they connect two things with each other.

Examples

• Either salad or soup will be served for lunch.
• I want neither the salad nor the soup.
• Maya is neither happy nor sad about this.

Such constructions can also occur in relative clauses or be used to describe a noun.

Examples

• Poco, who is neither qualified nor experienced, is now our manager.
• Any

  bread, either white or brown, will do.

As conjunctions, either-or and neither-nor can join clauses in a sentence.

Examples

• Either he wants the job, or he doesn’t.
• Either you like chocolate, or you don’t.
• Neither does she care, nor does she pretend to care.

Note

Either-or and neither-nor are called correlative conjunctions. Other correlative conjunctions, which come in pairs, include both-and, not-but, and whether-or.

Examples

• Both coffee and tea are available.
• I don’t know whether I want coffee or tea.
• Rita wants to drive not the car but the truck.

More than two alternatives

Use an either-or formulation to present two possibilities. In informal usage, more than two possibilities are sometimes presented, but this is generally avoided in formal writing.

Examples

• You can have either cake, ice-cream, or lizard legs.
• We could either watch a movie, go out for dinner, or play a board game.
• Either Anita, Poco, or I will call you.

To emphasize that there are numerous alternatives, we sometimes use the word or multiple times in a list, but either is omitted before a list with more than two alternatives.

Example

• You can either read a book or watch a movie or go out for dinner or play a game or call a friend or bake a cake: there are

  lots of things you can do on a Saturday.

Neither-nor constructions, on the other hand, may be used with more than two possibilities to emphasize the simultaneous negation of all the alternatives presented.

Examples

• Neither Anita nor Poco nor Nesbit is qualified to operate on people.
• Neither rain nor snow nor hail nor sleet can stop us now.
• Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.
  Bertrand Russell , Unpopular Essays (1950)

Parallel structure

Either-or and neither-nor constructions must be parallel in structure: the two parts joined by or or nor should be grammatically balanced.

Examples

• Incorrect:

  Lulu either

   

  wants a hat

   

  or

   

  an umbrella

   

  for her birthday.

  Lacks parallel structure.

  Correct:

  Lulu wants either

   

  a hat

   

  or

   

  an umbrella

   

  for her birthday.

  We have parallel structure: both either and or are followed by

  noun phrases

  (“a hat” and “an umbrella”).

• Incorrect:

  Either

   

  poor Farley is foolish

   

  or

   

  unlucky

   

  .

  Correct:

  Poor Farley is either

   

  foolish

   

  or

   

  unlucky

   

  .

• Incorrect:

  We should either

   

  call

   

  , or

   

  we should email

   

  them today.

  Correct:

  We should either

   

  call

   

  or

   

  email

   

  them today.

  Correct:

  Either

   

  we should call

   

  , or

   

  we should email

   

  them today.

• Incorrect:

  I’ve neither

   

  received an email

   

  nor

   

  a message

   

  from them.

  Correct:

  I’ve received neither

   

  an email

   

  nor

   

  a message

   

  from them.

• Incorrect:

  You have to neither

   

  pay

   

  , nor

   

  do you have to sign anything

   

  .

  Correct:

  Neither

   

  do you have to pay

   

  , nor

   

  do you have to sign anything

   

  .

Tip

Parallel structure brings balance to a sentence and improves readability. In formal texts, use parallel structure across elements of equal importance.

Example

• Incorrect:

  You can

   

  call

   

  ,

   

  message

   

  , or

   

  you can send us an email

   

  .

  Correct:

  You can

   

  call

   

  ,

   

  message

   

  , or

   

  email

   

  us.

Omitting either and neither

When two alternatives are presented, either can generally be omitted without loss of meaning.

Examples

• Either Anita or Poco will send you the report.

  or

  Anita or Poco will send you the report.

  Both sentences mean that one of them will send the report.

• You can have either pizza or cake.

  or

  You can have pizza or cake.

Using either can emphasize the exclusive nature of the options: you can choose either pizza or cake, but not both. Linguistic authorities are divided in their opinion: in general, you can use either-or or just or, whichever you prefer.

However, when nor joins two words or phrases, neither shouldn’t be omitted.

Examples

• Incorrect:

  Tumkin nor Maya has a cat.

  Correct:

  Neither Tumkin nor Maya has a cat.

• Incorrect:

  Poco drinks coffee nor tea.

  Correct:

  Poco drinks neither coffee nor tea.

Pronoun usage: I or me?

Whether you use “I” or “me” with or and nor depends upon whether you are referring to the subject or the object in a sentence. The pronoun “I” goes in the subject position, while “me” fits in the object position in a sentence.

Examples

• Either you or I/me can solve this problem.

  For the subject, use “I,” not “me.”

• This cake is for neither you nor I/me.

  In the object position, use “me,” not “I.”

Use subject pronouns like I, he, she, and they when an either-or or neither-nor construction is the subject in a sentence.

Examples

• Either he/him or she/her can help you.
• Neither you nor they/them are wrong.

In the object position, use object pronouns like me, him, her, and them.

Examples

• Can you give this to either he/him or she/her?
• I have spoken to neither they/them nor Anita.

Note

Object pronouns like me in a compound subject are acceptable in informal usage. For a more in-depth discussion, see this article on which pronouns to use in compound subjects.

Caution

Avoid hypercorrection. Some people use I instead of me in the object position because they have heard that “you and I” is correct, not “you and me.” “You and I” is indeed correct, but only when it is the subject of a sentence, not when it is the object.

Example

• Poor: These tickets are for you and I.

  Better: These tickets are for you and me.

While I instead of me is acceptable in speech, using “I” in the object position is still avoided in formal writing.

Singular or plural?

When or or nor joins two parts of a subject, the verb that follows should agree with the part closest to it.

Examples

• Neither the moon

  nor

   

  the stars

   

  are out tonight.
  

  The part closest to the verb is plural (“the stars”). Use a plural verb: “are” instead of “is.”

• Neither the stars nor

   

  the moon

   

  is out tonight.

  The part closest to the verb is singular (“the moon”). Use “is” instead of “are.”

• Neither you nor

   

  I

   

  am to blame.

• Neither you nor

   

  they

   

  are to blame.

• Either the tourists or

   

  the guide

   

  has the tickets.

• Either the guide or

   

  the tourists

   

  have the tickets.

Admittedly, subject-verb agreement can sound odd in such sentences. You can always rephrase.

Examples

• You aren’t to blame, and neither am I.
• Either the tourists have the tickets, or the guide does.

Read more in this article on verb agreement with compound subjects.

Examples from literature

Here are some usage examples of either-or and neither-nor from the writings of famous authors. Note how they write with parallel structure: or and nor join grammatically balanced elements.

Examples

• The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense.
  Jane Austen , Pride and Prejudice (1813)
• Mr. Rochester, you must neither expect nor exact anything celestial of me – for you will not get it, any more than I shall get it of you: which I do not at all anticipate.
  Charlotte Brontë , Jane Eyre (1847)
• I found it strange that neither I nor the day seemed in a mourning mood and I felt even annoyed at discovering in myself a sensation of freedom as if I’d been freed from something by his death.
  James Joyce , “The Sisters,” Dubliners (1914)
• The covers of books looked like coffins to her, either shabby or ornate, and what was inside them might as well have been dust.
  Alice Munro , Open Secrets (1994)

Related to Either . . . or

or is not exclusive;

Abandon means the vacating of all or a substantial portion of the leased premises by Lessee, whether or not Lessee is in default of the rental payments due under this Lease.

any means “any one, more than one, or all;” and, unless otherwise specified, any financial or accounting term has the meaning of the term under United States generally accepted accounting principles as consistently applied heretofore by the Company.

material hoist means a hoist used to lower or raise material and equipment, excluding passengers; “medical certificate of fitness” means a certificate contemplated in regulation 7(8);

Other than when required by the Employer to use a vehicle of the Employer for transportation to a work location other than the employee’s normal place of work, time spent by the employee reporting to work or returning to his or her residence shall not constitute time worked.

Improve means and include construct, reconstruct, improve, replace, extend, enlarge, alter, better or repair.

Some means the recommendation considered at least one adequate scientific study, which reported that a treatment was effective.

Collocate means to install, mount, maintain, modify, operate, or replace wireless facilities on or adjacent to a small wireless support structure or utility pole.

Immediate jeopardy means a situation where the failure of a residential care facility to comply with a Department rule has caused, or is likely to cause, a resident:

Activity means the rate of disintegration or transformation or decay of radioactive material. The units of activity are the becquerel (Bq) and the curie (Ci).

Concerning means relating to, referring to, describing, evidencing or constituting.

Remove a Nominated Person means:

NCATE means The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, a national accrediting body for schools, colleges, and departments of education authorized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Juvenile means any person defined as a juvenile in any member state or by the rules of the Interstate Commission, including:

OGS OR LESS GUIDELINES APPLY TO THIS CONTRACT:

Suspend or “suspension” means that the document or privilege suspended has been temporarily

Head of the Department means the administrative head of the department or the organization;

Preschool means children from two years up to the age of eligibility to attend public school, five years by September 30.

Perform means that the Contractor, at Contractor’s expense, shall take all actions necessary to complete The Work, including furnishing of necessary labor, tools, and equipment, and providing and installing Materials that are indicated, specified, or required to complete such performance.

Interfering Activities means (i) encouraging, soliciting, or inducing, or in any manner attempting to encourage, solicit, or induce, any individual employed by, or individual or entity providing consulting services to, the Company or any other member of the Company Group to terminate such employment or consulting services; provided, that the foregoing shall not be violated by general advertising not targeted at employees or consultants of the Company or any other member of the Company Group; (ii) hiring any individual who was employed by the Company or any other member of the Company Group within the six (6) month period prior to the date of such hiring; or (iii) encouraging, soliciting or inducing, or in any manner attempting to encourage, solicit or induce any customer, supplier, licensee or other business relation of the Company or any other member of the Company Group to cease doing business with or materially reduce the amount of business conducted with the Company or any other member of the Company Group, or in any way interfere with the relationship between any such customer, supplier, licensee or business relation and the Company or any other member of the Company Group.

Board of Visitors means the governing body of the University of Virginia as appointed by the Governor of Virginia.

Commencement of Development means the date on which any material operation (as defined in Section 56(4) of the 1990 Act) forming part of the Development begins to be carried out other than (for the purposes of this Deed and for no other purpose) operations consisting of site clearance, demolition work, archaeological investigations, investigations for the purpose of assessing ground conditions, remedial work in respect of any contamination or other adverse ground conditions, diversion and laying of services and estate roads, or temporary means of enclosure, the temporary display of site notices or advertisements and “Commence Development” and “Commenced” shall be construed accordingly

Pushcart means a non-self-propelled vehicle food establishment limited to serving nonpotentially hazardous foods or commissary-wrapped foods maintained at proper temperatures or precooked foods that require limited assembly, such as frankfurters.

Area of shallow flooding means a designated AO or AH Zone on a community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) with one percent or greater annual chance of flooding to an average depth of one to three feet where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate; and where velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.

Refuse means solid waste not carried by water through the sewage system.

Activities has the meaning specified in Section 7.02(b).