neither ... nor

In writing and formal speech, neither and nor are used to link two words or expressions of the same type in order to make a negative statement about two people, things, qualities, or actions. You put neither in front of the first word or expression and nor in front of the second one.

\

For example, instead of saying `The President did not come and the Vice-President did not come' you can say `Neither the President nor the Vice-President came'.

Neither he nor Melanie owe me any explanation.

He neither drinks nor smokes.

\

◊ WARNING

You do not use `or' after neither. You do not say, for example, `He neither drinks or smokes'.

\

You always put neither immediately in front of the first of the words or expressions linked by `nor'. You do not put it any earlier in the sentence. You do not say, for example, `She neither ate meat nor fish'. You say `She ate neither meat nor fish'.

\

In conversation, people do not usually use neither and nor. Instead of saying `Neither the President nor the Vice-President came', you would normally say `The President didn't come and neither did the Vice-President'.

Margaret didn't talk about her mother and neither did Rosa.

I won't give in to their threats, and neither will my colleagues.

\

Instead of saying `She ate neither meat nor fish', you would normally say `She didn't eat meat or fish'. Instead of saying `She neither smokes nor drinks', you would say `She doesn't smoke or drink'.

Karin's from abroad and hasn't any relatives or friends here.

You can't run or climb in shoes like that.

\