Neither — Exercises
Practice 'neither' as a determiner, pronoun (neither of them), and correlative conjunction (neither...nor). Covers singular verb agreement, avoiding double negatives, and the nor/or distinction.
Neither in English: Not One, Not the Other
Neither is the negative form of 'either' and one of the most error-prone quantifiers at B1–B2 level. It carries an inherent negative meaning, which creates two recurring problems: double negation ('neither of them don't want') and wrong pairing ('neither...or' instead of 'neither...nor'). Analysis of the International Corpus of Learner English shows that double negation after 'neither' appears in over 30% of Russian-speaking learner texts at B1 level, directly reflecting the Russian double-negative structure 'ни один из них не хочет'. A separate error pattern — using a plural verb after 'neither' — appears in roughly 35% of all 'neither' uses at this level. Neither takes a singular verb in both its determiner and pronoun uses.
Neither as Determiner
'Neither' + singular noun, singular verb. No second negative word.
Neither option is suitable for our budget.
Neither of + Plural Noun
'Neither of' requires a plural noun with a determiner (the, them, us). The verb is singular in formal English.
I tried two recipes, but neither of them turned out well.
Neither...nor — Correlative Conjunction
'Neither...nor' links two negative clauses. The paired conjunction is always 'nor', never 'or'. The main verb becomes positive in form because 'neither' already carries the negation.
The soup was neither hot nor cold.
The film was neither interesting nor boring.
Common Mistakes
✗ He neither drinks or smokes. → ✓ He neither drinks nor smokes. (neither pairs with nor)
✗ Neither restaurant have a menu. → ✓ Neither restaurant has a menu. (singular verb)