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Originally Posted by jiang Quote: |
Originally Posted by RonBee Quote: |
Originally Posted by jiang Quote: |
Originally Posted by RonBee You are right, Mike. It should be: "Neither of the shrubs grows well in this soil."  | Dear RonBee,
I feel uneasy to have disturbed you so much. So either is still incorrect?
If it is could you please explain the difference between my sentence and the dictionary example? | Let's focus on meaning. If I say Neither book A nor book B say a certain thing then what I say applies to both. In other words, book A doesn't say it and book B doesn't say it. What if I say either book says it? Does it mean book A says it? No, it doesn't. Does it mean book B says it? No, it doesn't. I can't make either apply to one book or the other and certainly not both. So I can't use either.
What about the other example? What if I say "Neither of those bushes can grow in that soil"? What I said applies to both of them. Bush A can not grow in that soil, and bush B can not grow in that soil. What if I say "Either of those bushes can grow in that soil"? It's just the opposite. Bush A can grow in that soil, and bush B can grow in that soil.
Does that help?
:) | :?
Thank you so much for your patience in explaining the difference to me. It's very clear. But I don't understand why I say Bush A can grow , and bush B can grow but I can't say book A says it and book B says it?
Thanks!
Jiang |
You can say that, but that would mean that
both of them say it as opposed to saying that
neither of them says it. (The true opposite of
neither is
both.)
I think the confusion is caused by the verbs that are used. A book either says something or it doesn't. Also, you can't compare books to bushes. You can't really say that either one book say something or another book says it, because that doesn't make sense. You are admitting that you don't really know. If you do know which book says what you can't say it's either one. You have to say which one. If you know which book says what you have to say book A says this or book B says that. You can't use
either. If you know for a fact what is not in book A and what is not in book B then you can use
neither.
In the case of the bushes you are talking about potential. If you say "Either bush will grow in this soil" you mean that either bush can grow in that soil. If you say "Neither bush can grow in this soil" you mean that neither bush can grow in that soil. Thus, in that case,
either and
neither mean two opposite things.
Was I successful?
:)