[Grammar] She is neither English nor American.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Crowned 91

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Italian
Home Country
Italy
Current Location
Italy
Hi!
Which is the correct sentence?

- She is neither English nor American.
-Neither is she English, nor is she American.
-She isn't either English or American.
- She isn't English or American.
-She isn't English; neither is she American.
-She isn't English; nor is she American.
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
"Which is the correct sentence?"

What makes you think there is only one correct sentence?
 

Crowned 91

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Italian
Home Country
Italy
Current Location
Italy
Ok, what are the correct ones? I found examples with the first sentence and the third one in grammar books. But are the other sentences also possible?
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
2 is wrong. The rest are OK.
 

Roman55

Key Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Italy
Current Location
France
I am not a teacher.

The rest might be OK but they don't have the same meaning. 1, 4, 5 and 6 all mean that she is not English and she is not American either.

Number 3 means that the statement, "She is either English or American" is untrue. It might be true that she is either English or Welsh, or that she is either American or Canadian. So, she could be either English or American. Or then again no.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
If you want to refer to her nationality, British would be the term. English is not an official nationality.
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I'd say the last one needs a comma instead of a semi-colon. Isn't "nor" a coordinating conjunction?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top