Agreement & negation · CEFR B2 · Confident
either / neither / or in English
With "or" or "nor", the verb matches whichever subject is NEAREST to it. With "and" it is always plural.
The shape
either A or B + verb matching B
Choose the verb when two subjects are joined by "or".
In Hindi
"or" या "nor" हो तो क्रिया सबसे पास वाले कर्ता से मिलती है। "and" हो तो हमेशा बहुवचन।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
Neither the manager nor the staff was informed. | Neither the manager nor the staff were informed. "Staff" is nearest to the verb, so the verb matches it. |
Learn these first
These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.
Easy to confuse with
Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.
Questions people ask
- What is the either / neither / or used for?
- With "or" or "nor", the verb matches whichever subject is NEAREST to it. With "and" it is always plural. In practice: choose the verb when two subjects are joined by "or".
- How do you form the either / neither / or?
- either A or B + verb matching B.
- What is the most common mistake with the either / neither / or?
- Saying “Neither the manager nor the staff was informed.” instead of “Neither the manager nor the staff were informed.”. "Staff" is nearest to the verb, so the verb matches it.
Where either / neither / or fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
either / neither / or is a CEFR B2 structure — the confident band — and it belongs to agreement & negation. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
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