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What is the difference between neither and both?

neither | both |

As determiners the difference between neither and both

is that neither is not one of two; not either while both is each of the two; one and the other.

As conjunctions the difference between neither and both

is that neither is not either (used with nor) while both is including both (used with and.

As a pronoun neither

is not either one.

As an adverb neither

is similarly not.

neither

Determiner

(en determiner)
  • Not one of two; not either.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=She was neither learned nor intelligent, but she contrived to dress both herself and her daughter out of a meagre jointure, supplying with her clever fingers what her purse could not buy;

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • not either one
  • ... because neither is correct.

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • Not either (used with nor).
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= T time , passage=The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (conjunctive) similarly not
  • Just as you would not correct it, neither would I.

    Usage notes

    * Neither is used to mean none of two or more. Although some suggest that using the word neither with more than two items is incorrect, it has been commonly used to refer to more than two subjects since the 17th century. The more modern usage does prefer none with more than two things. * There is considerable variation in the number of the verb employed with this construction. :* Examples: ::* "That woman was neither a collector nor an art critic, but she understood the meaning I meant to give that work." — ::* "Has anyone ever loved you so much that they tried to kill you, or perhaps sucked you down into a hole so that you had to kill them to get away? Yeah, me neither." — ::* "You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work." — ::* "As if it were gold and could be neither good nor bad nor worth more nor worth less but must always be worth the same no matter what." — ::* "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
    ::: Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
    ::: But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
    ::: When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!" — ::* "Neither you, Simon, nor the fifty thousand, nor the Romans, nor the Jews, nor Judas, nor the twelve, nor the priests, nor the scribes, nor doomed Jerusalem itself understand what power is, understand what glory is, understand at all." —

    Statistics

    *

    both

    English

    Alternative forms

    * bothe (archaic)

    Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • Each of the two; one and the other.
  • * (Bible), (w) xxi. 27
  • Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
  • * (1678-1751)
  • He will not bear the loss of his rank, because he can bear the loss of his estate; but he will bear both , because he is prepared for both.
  • *
  • Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. There was a great deal of them, lavish both in material and in workmanship.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Ian Sample
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains , passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
  • (obsolete) Each of more than two.
  • * (Oliver Goldsmith) (1730-1774)
  • Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound.
  • * (Samuel Taylor Coleridge) (1772-1834)
  • He prayeth well who loveth well both man and bird and beast.

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • including both (used with and)
  • Both you and I are students

    See also

    (various semantically related terms) * * * couple * double * dual * neither * pair * second * twice * two