Neither/ Either

Question

Hi,

in MGMAT SC book, it says that when the words "either" or "neither" are in a sentence alone (without "or" or "nor"), they are considered singular and take only singular verbs.

can anyone give me an example please??

thanks,

piyatiwari · Answer

Considering that I have understood your questions correctly  , these are the examples:

- I can choose any one Entrée - fish or chicken. I can have either of them.
- Jane has two sisters. She stays with neither of them.

adalfu · Answer

I think he was asking about which verb (singular or plural) to use. so to follow up w/ your example: I can choose any one entree: fish or chicken. either is tasty Jane has two sisters. Neither is attractive.

You wouldn't say "Neither are attractive" even though it seems like you want to refer to both sisters... think of it this way: Neither is attractive. Neither (or either) is the pronoun that always commands a singular verb. "of the sister" is just a middle-man (prepositional phrase).

cano · Answer

Example:

Harvard and Stanford are excellent business schools. However, I'm not applying since  neither  of them  is  going to accept me in their program.

GetThisDone · Answer

Some examples below

Neither of them is going to the show tonight.

Either of us is capable of answering the question.

daagh · Answer

I think the following note will give some insight in this context ( source: the freedictioinay.com)

Usage Note: The traditional rule also holds that neither is grammatically singular: Neither candidate is having an easy time with the press. However, it is often used with a plural verb, especially when followed byof and a plural: Neither of the candidates are really expressing their own views. •

Usage: Either is followed by a singular verb in good usage: either is good; either of these books is useful. Care should be taken to avoid ambiguity when using either to mean bothor each, as in the following sentence: a ship could be moored on either side of the channel

Sometimes one can see wide variations in usage.

mba757 · Answer

Hi experts,

I have a question on this topic here. I ran across a sentence on an MIT technology review article today, and I wanted to get clarification on this: Within the following, is it grammatical to have this usage of "neither...nor"?

"... neither  program heads, department chairs, attending physicians,  nor  nursing staff were involved in the original algorithm design."

(1) there are multiple people here, but neither/nor (and either/or) has to have two entities. (2) if we assume that what comes after the neither is correct, isn't the verb after staff incorrect? Shouldn't it be "was?" "Neither/nor" depends on what comes after the nor part - i.e., if it's singular, we need a singular verb. if it's plural, we need a plural verb.

MartyTargetTestPrep   GMATNinja   egmat   AjiteshArun

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

That you have to have two entities only when you use "neither ... nor" is debated. Many people consider it fine to use "neither ... nor" with more than two.

In this case, the collective noun "staff" is not used for naming a singular entity. The staff itself would not be "involved." The individual staff members would. So, "staff" is understood to be plural here, and thus using "were" makes sense.

LeenaSai · Answer

Hi Experts ,

Can anyone throw some light on the usage of Neither and Either without NOR and Or respectively .

Little bit confused

Posted from my mobile device

mba757 · Answer

Not an expert, but the rules are the following:

"Neither" / "Either" --  always  singular. 
 - "Neither of the children was home."

"Neither..nor" / "Either...or" -- depends on the closest preceding noun. 
 - "Neither the chicken nor the  hens were  prepared for the weather." 
 - "Neither the hens nor the  chicken was  prepared for the weather."
(*Note: No preference between the two. Would be a red herring if you saw both in different answer choices.)

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Neither/ Either

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