1
He knew she would neither phone or write again.
He knew she would neither phone nor write again.
Use neither … nor, not neither … or: ‘The film was neither good nor bad.’
Do not confuse it with either … or:
‘She neither watches TV nor reads.’ means that she does not do either activity.
‘She either watches TV or reads.’ means that she does one of the two activities.
2
As he is an only child, he doesn’t have to share his room neither his things.
As he is an only child, he doesn’t have to share his room or his things.
After a negative verb, use or to join two things: ‘He doesn’t share his room or his things.’
We can express a similar idea with an affirmative verb and neither … nor: ‘He shares neither his room nor his things.’
Do not use not and neither together.
3
Neither Janice nor her sister couldn’t answer the question.
Neither Janice nor her sister could answer the question.
Neither already makes the sentence negative, so use an affirmative verb after it.
Using neither with couldn’t creates a double negative: use ‘neither … could’, not ‘neither … couldn’t’.
4
I neither drink alcohol nor coffee.
I drink neither alcohol nor coffee.
I drink neither alcohol nor eat meat.
I neither drink alcohol nor eat meat.
Put neither immediately before the first of the two connected elements and nor immediately before the second.
When connecting two nouns, use the same structure before both nouns: ‘I drink neither alcohol nor coffee.’
When connecting two actions, put neither and nor before the verbs: ‘I neither drink alcohol nor eat meat.’
5
She said if I didn’t stay, she wouldn’t stay neither.
She said if I didn’t stay, she wouldn’t stay either.
Use either at the end of a negative sentence to mean ‘also not’: ‘I didn’t go either.’ ‘She can’t come either.’
Do not use neither at the end of a negative sentence.