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  #1 (permalink)  
Old 15-Jun-2008, 12:03
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Default neither/or

Hello

"This matter does not have any impact on ..... or (nor)........" Should it be "or" or "nor", because I've seen "or" somewhere and I'm not sure now?
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Old 15-Jun-2008, 12:54
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Default Re: neither/or

The sentence is awkward either way.

The general rule is that either...or and neither...nor are pairs. You cannot write either...nor. Similarly, you cannot write neither...or.

A better phrasing might be "This matter impacts neither ... nor....

A little more prolix is the phrasing "This matter does not imact either ... or ..." The first phrasing, however, is clearer.

I hope this helps.

Rick
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Old 15-Jun-2008, 15:19
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Default Re: neither/or

Quote:
Originally Posted by GUEST2008 View Post
Hello

"This matter does not have any impact on ..... or (nor)........" Should it be "or" or "nor", because I've seen "or" somewhere and I'm not sure now?
This doesn't do this, nor does it do that.

This matter doesn't have any impact on the wetlands, nor does it have any impact on drinking water.

The matter impacts neither the wetlands nor drinking water.
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Old 15-Jun-2008, 15:40
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Default Re: neither/or

I'm really sorry to barge in...

What would you do if....

you started a sentence like..." I didn't mean it was useless..."
but what you really wanted to say was..." I meant it's neither useless nor meaningless."?

Would you stop there and rephrase it or...keep on saying something after that?
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Old 15-Jun-2008, 19:00
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Default Re: neither/or

Quote:
Originally Posted by tzfujimino View Post
I'm really sorry to barge in...

What would you do if....

you started a sentence like..." I didn't mean it was useless..."
but what you really wanted to say was..." I meant it's neither useless nor meaningless."?

Would you stop there and rephrase it or...keep on saying something after that?
You could say:
I didn't mean it was useless. I meant it's neither useless nor meaningless.
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Old 15-Jun-2008, 19:13
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Default Re: neither/or

Quote:
Originally Posted by RonBee View Post
You could say:
I didn't mean it was useless. I meant it's neither useless nor meaningless.
Thank you, Ronbee!
So...it doesn't work to say...like..
"I didn't mean it was useless...or meaningless...or anything like that..."?

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Old 15-Jun-2008, 19:27
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Default Re: neither/or

Quote:
Originally Posted by tzfujimino View Post
Thank you, Ronbee!
So...it doesn't work to say...like..
"I didn't mean it was useless...or meaningless...or anything like that..."?

Sure. You could say that.
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