"nor" to introduce another negative sentence

1)"They won't pay you back either the principal bond or interest on the due date."

OR

2)"They will pay you back neither the principal bond nor interest on the due date."

OR

3)''The won't pay you back the principal bond nor will you get paid interest on the due date."

Some smart..s in my class told me that the use of "nor" in sentence 3) is incorrect and that it can only be used with "neither" as in sentence 2). What do you think of these sentences?

ostap77 said:

1)"They won't pay you back either the principal bond or interest on the due date."

2)"They will pay you back neither the principal bond nor interest on the due date."

3)''They won't pay you back the principal bond on the due date, nor will you get paid interest."

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They are all fine, though I would write 'the interest due' in #1 and #2. Note my repositioning of 'on the due date' in #3. An alternative would be:

They won't pay you back the principal bond, nor will you get paid interest, on the due date.

fivejedjon said:

They are all fine, though I would write 'the interest due' in #1 and #2. Note my repositioning of 'on the due date' in #3. An alternative would be:

They won't pay you back the principal bond, nor will you get paid interest, on the due date.

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I guess 3) is good because when I use a negative sentence to express my thoughts and than something else comes to my mind I can easily introduce another with "nor".

I must have been driving you up the wall by asking too many "natural questions" but I'm going to do it once again, which of the three is natural?

ostap77 said:

I must have been driving you up the wall by asking too many "natural questions" Not at all :roll: but I'm going to do it once again:shock:, which of the three is natural?

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If I had to pick one, I'd go for #1.

fivejedjon said:

If I had to pick one, I'd go for #1.

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"They won't pay you back the principal bond or the interest on the due date." OK?

Do you use "nor" without "neither" in conversation?

ostap77 said:

"They won't pay you back the principal bond or get paid interest on the due date." OK?

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NO!

"They won't pay you back the principal bond or the interest on the due date."
or
"You won't get back the principal bond or get paid interest on the due date."

fivejedjon said:

NO!

"They won't pay you back the principal bond or the interest on the due date."
or
"You won't get back the principal bond or get paid interest on the due date."

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Would these two be less formal than those in post#1?

ostap77 said:

Would these two be less formal than those in post#1?

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Marginally.

hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;

Just a few thoughts.

"They won't pay you back the principal bond or the interest on the due date."
"You won't get back the principal bond or get paid interest on the due date."

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[STRIKE]The two sentences, with or, to my mind introduce an alternative; so I'd expect to get one of the payments. Boolean logic hasn't got much to do with everyday language.
[/STRIKE]

"They won't pay you back the principal bond nor the interest on the due date."
"You won't get back the principal bond nor get paid interest on the due date."

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[STRIKE]With nor the meaning changes to "you won't get any payments"[/STRIKE]

I guess 3) is good because when I use a negative sentence to express my thoughts and than something else comes to my mind I can easily introduce another with "nor". :up::up::up:

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There are plenty of examples in BNC and COCA to confirm that statement.

Do you use "nor" without "neither" in conversation?

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Uses of "nor" after negative "not" in conversations account to about ten percentage of all examples of such construction. That doesn't include other negative words such as never.

cheers

Jaskin said:

hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;

Just a few thoughts.


The two sentences, with or, to my mind introduce an alternative; so I'd expect to get one of the payments. Boolean logic hasn't got much to do with everyday language.


With nor the meaning changes to "you won't get any payments"


There are plenty of examples in BNC and COCA to confirm that statement.


Uses of "nor" after negative "not" in conversations account to about ten percentage of all examples of such construction. That doesn't include other negative words such as never.

cheers

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I was just going to ask you, would I be showing smarts or sound "unnecessarily educated" if I used "nor" to introduce another negative sentence in a friendly chat?

Hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;

ostap77 said:

I was just going to ask you, would I be showing smarts or sound "unnecessarily educated" if I used "nor" to introduce another negative sentence in a friendly chat?

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That's a question I feel unable to answer. It's more a question to a native speaker. I think it would largely depend on the other person background and education.
cheers

Jaskin said:

Hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;



That's a question I feel unable to answer. It's more a question to a native speaker. I think it would largely depend on the other person background and education.
cheers

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Is it better to use "or" in converstion?

ostap77 said:

Is it better to use "or" in converstion?

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I am not a teacher.

Yes, "nor" sounds stilted in everyday speech, but "or" sounds even worse if the grammar demanded "nor". If you start with "neither", for instance, you're stuck with "nor".

Coolfootluke said:

I am not a teacher.

Yes, "nor" sounds stilted in everyday speech, but "or" sounds even worse if the grammar demanded "nor". If you start with "neither", for instance, you're stuck with "nor".

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Can you please refer to my previous posts # 1 and #7? How would you introduce another negative sentence?

hi,
please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;

[STRIKE]Using or changes the meaning of the sentence. [/STRIKE]

If you want to avoid using "nor" I'd go for "and"

"They won't pay you back the principal bond and /They won't pay you/ the interest on the due date."

Cheers

Jaskin said:

hi,
please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;

Using or changes the meaning of the sentence.

If you want to avoid using "nor" I'd go for "and"

"They won't pay you back the principal bond and /They won't pay you/ the interest on the due date."

Cheers

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What about fivejedjon's post #6? And here is an extract from Merriam-Webster's dictionary

"2 —used in negative statements to introduce something else that is also true ▪ We couldn't stop or even slow down the whole time. [=we could not stop and we could not slow down] ▪ They have no food or water. [=they do not have food and they do not have water]"

Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary

It doesn't say a word that it changes the meaning of a sentence.

ostap77 said:

Can you please refer to my previous posts # 1 and #7? How would you introduce another negative sentence?

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I am not a teacher.

Post 1.

Sentence 3 employs "nor" in a perfectly correct and natural way, although it sound a little stiff for informal speech; Jaskin's Boolean algebra comment was apropos.

Post 7.

I agree with 5jj, as usual.

People tend to use "nor" [STRIKE]wrong[/STRIKE] where I wouldn't. Jaskin has done so: "I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker". "Or" suffices, is less demanding, and saves ink.

Coolfootluke said:

I am not a teacher.

Post 1.

Sentence 3 employs "nor" in a perfectly correct and natural way, although it sound a little stiff for informal speech; Jaskin's Boolean algebra comment was apropos.

Post 7.

I agree with 5jj, as usual.

People tend to use "nor" [STRIKE]wrong[/STRIKE] where I wouldn't. Jaskin has done so: "I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker". "Or" suffices, is less demanding, and saves ink.

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So you would stick to "or" in a frienly chat and the way you would use it would be similar to

They won't pay you back the principal bond or the interest on the due date."
or
"You won't get back the principal bond or get paid interest on the due date."

ostap77 said:

So you would stick to "or" in a frienly chat and the way you would use it would be similar to

They won't pay you back the principal bond or the interest on the due date."
or
"You won't get back the principal bond or get paid interest on the due date."

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I am not a teacher.

I would use "or" in those cases not because of any considerations of style or register, but because I think that "or" is correct there, and "nor" is not---"nor" sounds hypercorrect to me there. The way I would avoid "nor" in speech would be to not employ constructions that demand it---"neither ... nor" and "I will not ... nor will I".

It looks like I'm someone who if asked to go shopping and buy one carton of milk, and if they have eggs, to get six; I would come back home with six cartons of milk.