BOTHnot one or the other of two people or things 两者都不(的),两者中无一(的) → either
‘Would you like tea or coffee?’ ‘Neither, thanks.’
“你要喝茶还是喝咖啡?”“都不要,谢谢。”
It was a game in which neither team deserved to win.
那场比赛两个队都不该赢。
neither of
Neither of them can cook.
他们俩都不会做饭。
Thompson had two strategies, neither of which seems to have worked very well.
汤普森有两套行动计划,效果似乎都不太好。
We asked both John and Jerry, but neither one could offer a satisfactory explanation.
我们询问了约翰和杰里,可他俩都没能给出令人满意的解释。
5GRAMMAR 语法
Neither is used before a singular noun. Use a singular verb after it.neither 用于单数名词前,接单数动词
Neither answer is right.
两个答案都不对。
Neither of is used before a plural noun or pronoun. In formal speech and wirting, use a singular verb after it.neither of 用于复数名词或代词之前,在正式的口语和书面语中后跟单数动词
Neither of us speaks Spainish.
我们俩都不会说西班牙语。
In informal speech and wirting, you can use a plural verb. 在非正式的口语和书面语中可以使用复数动词
Neither of us are students.
我们俩都不是学生。
GRAMMAR: Singular or plural verb?
You use neither before a singular noun, with a singular verb: neither 用于单数名词前,接单数动词
Neither answer is right.
两个答案都不对。
You use neither of before a plural noun or pronoun. In formal speech and in writing, you use a singular verb: neither of 用于复数名词或代词之前,在正式的口语和书面语中后跟单数动词
nNeither of the answers is right.
nIn speech and informal writing, people sometimes use a plural verb:
nNeither of the answers are right.
Examples from the Corpus
neither of which• Only that you have a sharptongue and an undisciplined sister, neither of whichattributes I find endearing.• Lunchconsisted of bread and cheese, neither of whichCharlie would have dared to offer for sale to Mrs Smelley.• Perhaps we can speak of two stages, conscious and unconscious, neither of which could operate without the other.• Another clue is even size and regularshape, neither of which is characteristic of Chincoteagues.• The recentadvance has been driven by news at two companies, neither of which is Hologic.• But you have to take one of two alternativesneither of which is pleasant.• It seems plausible that one of two things may happen, neither of which is socially desirable.• In 1950 there were only two mega-cities of 8 million or more, neither of which was in the developing world.
neither2 ●●●S3adverbadv
AND/ALSOused to show that a negativestatement is also true about another person or thing 也不 → either
neither does/can/will etc somebody
‘I don’t have any money.’ ‘Neither do I.’
“我没带钱。”“我也没带。”
Tom didn’t believe a word she said, and neither did the police.
汤姆根本不相信她说的话,警方也不相信。
‘I don’t like horror movies.’ ‘Me neither.’
“我不喜欢恐怖电影。”“我也不喜欢。”
Examples from the Corpus
neither• Tom didn't believe a word she said, and neither did the police.• They may not have criticized the state, but neither did they praise it.• "I've never been to Australia." "No, neither have I."• The Cowboys won't be playing in the Superbowl this year, and neither will the Falcons.
Me neither• "I haven't seen Greg in a long time." " Me neither."• Did you say hi to her? Me neither.• Heard of it? Me neither.• No, can't. Me neither, Glen, you ever had a wank with a johnny on?
neither3 ●●●W2 conjunction
1neither ... nor ...BOTHused when mentioning two things that are not true or possible 既不…也不…,不…也不…,…和…都不
Neither Oleg’s mother nor his father spoke English.
奥列格的父母都不会说英语。
The equipment is neither accurate nor safe.
这台设备既不精确,也不安全。
5GRAMMAR 语法
Do not say ‘neither ... or ...’. Say neither ... nor ... or not ... or .... 不要说 “ neither ... or ... ”,要说neither ... nor ... 或 not ... or ...
Neither he nor his wife enjoyed the vacation.
这次度假他和他的妻子都玩得不开心 。
Most computer users do not know or wish to know about how their computers work.
大多数电脑用户都不知道,也不想知道他们的电脑是如何运行的 。
nGRAMMAR: Negatives
After neither, use nor:
Neither he nor his wife enjoyed the vacation.
这次度假他和他的妻子都玩得不开心。
Most of them neither know nor care how it works.
✗Don’t say: Neither he or his wife ... | Most of them neither know or care ...
Examples from the Corpus
neither ... nor ...• It is neither an obsession nor a projection of his mind, although it certainly doescompel him.• I am neither a bailiff nor a tax-collector.• The party and its leaders were defendedneither by white norblue-collarworkers nor kolkhoz farmers.• It was an incredible year, one in which the Suns were neither lucky nor good.• In all that time he had neither moved nor shown any interest in the rescueattempt.• Once they had got over the first shock, neither Bridget nor Tracey seemed able to take her story entirely seriously.• I neither can, norwish to, exclude the media from these proceedings.
2be neither here nor therespokenCONNECTED WITH used to say that something is not important because it does not affect a fact or situation 一点都不重要SYN irrelevant
The fact that she needed the money for her children is neither here nor there – it’s still stealing.
她需要钱是为了孩子也不行,这还是偷。
Examples from the Corpus
be neither here nor there• It's true we're not friends but that's neither here nor there. We're still able to work together.• The fact that she hadn't seen her prospectivehusband since she was ten was neither here nor there.• What I think about your husband is neither here nor there.• But that was neither here nor there.• Dinnerhalf an hour earlier or later was neither here nor there.• That he was not in the categoryordained by the MarketingDepartment for the evening was neither here nor there.• The cost would be borne by Grunte Accessories, but that was neither here nor there.• She and Carolan had no children, but that was neither here nor there as an indication of matrimonial harmony nowadays.• The fact that you fantasise about a woman rather than a man is neither here nor there in these circumstances.• Artwas neither here nor there; money was the issue.• What Cheng's intentions were is neither here nor there. What matters is what he did.
3be neither one thing nor the otherspoken used to say that something or someone cannot be described as either one of two types of thing or person, but is somewhere in the middle of the two 既不是…也不是〔表示介乎两者之间〕
The New York Times is neither one thing nor the other. It’s not really a city newspaper and it’s not really a national newspaper either.
《纽约时报》介乎两者之间,既不是一份城市报纸,也不是全国性报纸。
4formal used to add another negative statement about someone or something 也不SYN nor
The authorities were not sympathetic to the students’ demands, neither would they tolerate any disruption.
当局既不支持学生们的要求,也不会容忍任何混乱发生。
Examples from the Corpus
neither• If politics did not interest them, neither did they see it as affecting their lives.