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Business English
Englische Wortfallen
„either“, „neither“ oder „both“?
Die Wörter „either”, „neither” und „both” werden im Englischen häufi g gebraucht. Ihre Verwendung ist stark
geregelt und verlangt manchmal sogar Änderungen in der normalen Satzstruktur.
The use of either/neither
Th e word „either“ indicates that there
are two possibilities from which you can
choose, the one or the other:
> We could accept either solution (this
means that there are two solutions that
are both good).
It is oft en paired up with the word „or“
when the alternative is mentioned:
> We will have to either pay for the damage
or go to court and sue the insurance
company.
It can also be used as an addition to a
negation in the meaning of „also not“
(see warning!):
> I haven’t seen him for a while. No, I
haven’t seen him either.
„Neither“ indicates that both options
are wrong or excluded:
> Neither of the suggestions appealed
to us.
It is oft en accompanied by the word
„nor“ when both options are mentioned:
EXERCISE:
> Neither the accountant nor the bookkeeper
had noticed the error in the
balance sheet.
We can also use „neither“ to confi rm a
negation, as with the word „either“. Be
careful, however, to place „neither“ at
the beginning of the sentence; „either“
is placed at the end:
> I do not think that we should employ
him. Neither do I (Ich auch nicht).
The position of the words
If you use „neither„ or „nor„ at the beginning
of a sentence, you will have to
use an inversion construction ( which
we normally use for questions):
> Neither do I think he is suitable for
the job, nor do I like him.
Other positions are: 1. Before the subject.
2. Before the verb. 3. Aft er the verb:
> 1. Either he goes or I go.
> 2. He either stays or he goes.
> 3. She works either at home or in the
offi ce.
Choose the correct answer: either, neither or both.
1. Both streets will lead you to the hospital. You can take ______.
2. Who is going to chair the meeting, ______ you or Tim?
either, 4.
3. I won’t be there, ______ will John.
4. You will have to choose. You can ______ use the green pen or the
neither,
blue one.
3.
5. That’s very ineffi cient. We have ______ been preparing the same
either,
numbers.
2.
6. What would you like for lunch, pasta or rice? I don’t mind, ______ will do.
7. ______ we continue or we stop the investment.
either, 1.
8. ______ were ill so they stayed home.
9. I don’t think much of ______ of the candidates.
10. I took the test twice and failed ______ times. Answers:
The use of both
Th e problem with the word „both“ is
that if it is used with the defi nite article
„the“, we will have to place this aft er
„both“ and not in front as is done in
German (die beiden Lösungen):
> Both the fi rst and the second solutions
are acceptable.
Singular form of the verb
People are oft en confused which verb
form they should use, the plural or the
singular. If you stick to the following
rule, nothing can go wrong: If the pairing
either/or or neither/nor form
part of the subject of the verb and both
elements are singular, then the verb
must be singular too, e.g.
> Neither John nor Bob was at the conference
(not „were“).
> Either the secretary or the accountant
has the key of that locker (not
„have“).
Plural form of the verb
Th e verb will have to take the plural form
if the subject closest to the verb is plural:
> Either the accountant or the numbers
are wrong.
If you place the singular subject closer
to the verb we will use the singular verb
form, e.g.:
> Either the numbers or the accountant
is wrong.
In the case of „both“ we indicate a quantity
of two and therefore we always use
the plural form:
> Both John and Roger speak English
fl uently.
> Both of the investments were very
profi table.
Die Autoren:
Lucy Renner Jones und Anita Duncan
78 ProFirma 11 2010
5. both, 6. either, 7.either, 8 both, 9. either, 10. both.