# "Me too" or "Me either" [Me neither]



## nasridine

When people say: I don't like it. I can say " me either".
But what if one say: "I never saw it" or "I hardly see anything". Should I say "me too" or "me either"
Thanks in advance


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## majlo

You could say _Neither did I_ or _Nor did I_. I wouldn't say _me too_.


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## nmuscatine

You need to say "me neither" in response to all of those.


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## river

"Me neither" is an informal way of saying "neither do I."


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## panjandrum

There is a looming generation of "Me either" coming along. It means "Neither do I". Looking at the words that make up "Me either," I can't attach any sensible meaning to their collocation.
"I don't like chocolate-coated sausages," I said to WMPG.
"Me either," said WMPG.
"Neither do I," said Panj (in a gently-correcting kind of voice).
"That's what I said," said WMPG (with all the exasperation that a 6-year-old can assemble).

Edit in response to maxiogee's next post:  WMPG = World's Most Perfect Granddaughter.  She accompanies many of my posts here.


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## Biloute

Does it mean that one can never say "Me either" ?


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## Matching Mole

Only if you wish to copy youth-speak and those who speak it. It is ungrammatical, but if you want to accept it, that's up to you. I think it is more than "informal", because "informal" does not imply incorrect usage. This is a kind of youth vernacular, and you should only use it if you wish to identify with speakers in this group.


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## JamesM

I can see that it's incorrect, but at the same time I think the most common thing you'd hear around me (in California) would be "me, neither", no matter what the age of the speaker. It's almost a set phrase, like "says you!" You're as likely to hear it from an 80-year-old as from a teenager.

It is so common that "Neither do I" sounds as stiff as "It is I" in many casual conversations, even though they are both correct English.

If I were writing something, I'd be sure to use "Neither do I." I think I would almost always choose "me, neither" in any casual conversation among friends or family, though. (Even stranger, I would use the long I sound for neither in "Neither do I" but the long E sound in "me, neither.")


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## Matching Mole

I agree with everything you said, JamesM, but isn't the topic "me _either_", rather than "me neither"? It was specifically the use "either" here that I was commenting on. I think of it in the same category as "could of" - somewhat beyond the pale.


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## nichec

JamesM said:


> I can see that it's incorrect, but at the same time I think the most common thing you'd hear around me (in California) would be "me, neither", no matter what the age of the speaker. It's almost a set phrase, like "says you!" You're as likely to hear it from an 80-year-old as from a teenager.
> 
> It is so common that "Neither do I" sounds as stiff as "It is I" in many casual conversations, even though they are both correct English.
> 
> If I were writing something, I'd be sure to use "Neither do I." I think I would almost always choose "me, neither" in any casual conversation among friends or family, though. (Even stranger, I would use the long I sound for neither in "Neither do I" but the long E sound in "me, neither.")


 
--I don't like this dress...It looks way too big on you.
--Neither do I.
--What's the matter with you, Silvia?
--............


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## JamesM

Matching Mole said:


> I agree with everything you said, JamesM, but isn't the topic "me _either_", rather than "me neither"? It was specifically the use "either" here that I was commenting on. I think of it in the same category as "could of" - somewhat beyond the pale.


 
Sorry. As I understood it, the question was about what is an appropriate response in agreement with a negative statement. You are correct that "me either" is in the title.

I agree with you on "me either". I don't quite know what it means. I think it's just used in the same place as "me neither", much like "honed in" has horned in  on "homed in." It certainly doesn't make much sense if you try to correct it to "Either do I", does it!


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## ElBoss

"me either" is not correct English.   "me neither" is correct English.  

I am not saying you won't hear some people, especially in the U.S., say it but it's not correct English.


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## BKing

I'm happy I found this thread.
Thank you everybody for clearing this ("me either") thing up!

As a non-native speaker I got confused recently because I got to know some americans and they all used "me either" instead of "me neither" and that didn't make sense to me. So school really taught me the correctly after all


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## Saurabh

Hello Folks,

I have gone through the above thread however, I still am not very sure about my doubt.

Allen: I like painting on walls.
Dave: Me either/ So do I/ Me too!

According to me, grammatically it would be in this order of preference: So do I, Me too, Me either. _However, I don't know whether "Me either" could work there or not_.
Since the above statement of Allen was in a positive mood. If it were in a negative mood say:
Allen: I do not like painting on walls.
Dave: Me neither/ Neither do I/Me too (not).
Would my order of prefrence be okay as : Neither do I, Me too(not), Me Neither. _I guess here "Me neither" could work unlike "Me either" in positive mood._
Please help.
Cheers,
Sau...


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## panjandrum

Responding to the positive statement, "So do I," is correct.
You will often hear "Me too," in casual conversation.
See above for comments on "Me either," in general. Whatever you think of it grammatically, it is not appropriate as a way of agreeing with a positive statement.
See also *So do I vs me too.*

Responding to the negative statement, "Neither do I," is correct.
You will often hear "Me neither," in casual conversation, and increasingly you will also hear "Me either."

Perhaps it's dull and boring of me, but I'll stick with "So do I," and "Neither do I."


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## mplsray

_Touchstone_, Book 2A By Jeanne McCarten and Helen Sandiford is a text intended to teach English to high school students. In the section 2 "*Grammar* Responses with *too* and *either*" there is a box labeled "In conversation..." which says "People actually say *Me either* more often than *Me neither*." It is accompanied by a bar chart which shows "Me either" to occur about twice as often as "Me neither."

I don't know whether the evidence for the conversational use of "Me either" comes from the Cambridge International Corpus, which was used for the writers when researching this book, or from some other source, and would like more information on the matter, but it seems to me that "Me either" may well fall into the category of informal standard English.


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## clitia

ElBoss said:


> "me either" is not correct English. "me neither" is correct English.
> 
> I am not saying you won't hear some people, especially in the U.S., say it but it's not correct English.


 

I always thought that the correct one was..._neither me._


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## JamesM

ElBoss said:


> "me either" is not correct English. "me neither" is correct English.
> 
> I am not saying you won't hear some people, especially in the U.S., say it but it's not correct English.


 
I'm not sure why you attribute this to American English. The British English speakers on this thread are the ones reporting this as common.

"Correctness" can be a matter of degree. I know many English teachers who would object to using "me neither" since "me" is the object form.

"Neither do/did/have/will I" is the safest choice in any situation where you might be graded, in my experience.



			
				clitia said:
			
		

> I always thought that the correct one was..._neither me._


 
This is not something I've heard around me at all.  It sounds very odd to me.


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## Saurabh

Okay, Friends.

I already knew, " So do I", " Neither do I" etc. are grammatical and most preferable. I myself use them. However, My doubt has been about "Me either". My query was though "Neither do I" or "Me neither" could be an answer to a negative mood question like " I don't like painting on walls". So, on the same ground, "Me either" could be an answer to a positive mood question like "I like painting on walls"?
I know it would be the most casual answer however, I want to know, could it be replied?
Thanks,
Sau.


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## Cagey

Saurabh said:


> [....] So, on the same ground, "Me either" could be an answer to a positive mood question like "I like painting on walls"?
> I know it would be the most casual answer however, I want to know, could it be replied?
> Thanks,
> Sau.


No, "Me either" is used only a "negative environment" when answering questions.  The fact that _either_ doesn't have an *n* as _neither_ does, and that in other contexts _either_ is used in positive sentences does not mean that it can be used to express agreement with positive statement. "Me either", if it is used, is used to express agreement with a negative statement.


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## Saurabh

Cagey said:


> No, "Me either" is used only a "negative environment" when answering questions. The fact that _either_ doesn't have an *n* as _neither_ does, and that in other contexts _either_ is used in positive sentences does not mean that it can be used to express agreement with positive statement. "Me either", if it is used, is used to express agreement with a negative statement.


 
Thanks a lot, Cagey.

You have provided to the point answer. Now, I have understood properly.
Cheers,
Sau...


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## Thomas Tompion

The obvious point - too obvious to be made, perhaps - is that when you are saying that you share a negative point of view, you need to use a subject pronoun.

Long form:

A: _I don't like carrots_
B: _*I* don't like them either._

_I don't like them either_ -> _I don't either_ -> _neither do I_ (the preferred option of young codgers like me)

To start this statement _me_, is to make a bad beginning, and to add _either_ is to remove the negative force which you need.

I'm sorry to learn that this is becoming a linguistic habit.


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## Saurabh

Thomas Tompion said:


> The obvious point - too obvious to be made, perhaps - is that when you are saying that you share a negative point of view, you need to use a subject pronoun.
> 
> Long form:
> 
> A: _I don't like carrots_
> B: _*I* don't like them either._
> 
> _I don't like them either_ -> _I don't either_ -> _neither do I_ (the preferred option of young codgers like me)
> 
> To start this statement _me_, is to make a bad beginning, and to add _either_ is to remove the negative force which you need.
> 
> I'm sorry to learn that this is becoming a linguistic habit.


 
Thanks, Thomas.

It too was helpful.
Saurabh.


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## Eskam

How it is if I tell only about my actions?

Par example:

I didn't go to the party.
I didn't go to the restaurant *either.* - (It's only ME who didn't go to anywhere)

Or do I have to use "neither" here?

I didn't go to the party.
I didn't go to the restaurant *neither*.


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## sound shift

Eskam, your first example in post 24 does NOT imply "It's only me who didn't go anywhere". Is the latter your interpretation of the example, or is it the idea that you wish to convey? Your first example simply means that you didn't go to the party or the restaurant.

As for your second example:

"I didn't go to the party."
"I didn't go to the restaurant neither either."


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## MikeLynn

JamesM said:


> I'm not sure why you attribute this to American English. The British English speakers on this thread are the ones reporting this as common.
> 
> "Correctness" can be a matter of degree. I know many English teachers who would object to using "me neither" since "me" is the object form.
> 
> "Neither do/did/have/will I" is the safest choice in any situation where you might be graded, in my experience.
> 
> 
> 
> This is not something I've heard around me at all.  It sounds very odd to me.



I agree with this.  _Neither do/did/have/had/will.._. is definitely the form I would choose when taking a test; any test. _Me neither_, _me too_ seem to be pretty common in casual conversation, but I don't think I've ever heard _"Me either."_ used as an agreement to a negative statement. Could it be that the phrase gets so slurred that the initial _*n*_ in _n_either is basically not audible although it "it" there? Thank you for your contributions.
M&L


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## Forero

Eskam said:


> How it is if I tell only about my actions?
> 
> Par example:
> 
> I didn't go to the party.
> I didn't go to the restaurant *either.* - (It's only ME who didn't go to anywhere)
> 
> Or do I have to use "neither" here?
> 
> I didn't go to the party.
> I didn't go to the restaurant *neither*.


Use _either_ after _not_ because "not either" ~= "neither".  Some possible rejoinders:

_I don't like it._ [A simple negative statement.]
I don't either.
Neither do I.
Me neither.

_I never saw it._
[I would not say "I didn't either" here.]
I never did either.
Neither did I.
Me neither.

_I hardly see anything._
[I would not say "I don't either" here.]
I hardly do either.
Me neither.
Me either. [_Hardly_ is negative in construction, but not quite negative in meaning, so I might opt for _neither_ or _either_ here, depending on how much or how well I can (or can't) see.]

I would probably not use "me neither" or "me either" in a formal setting.


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## MikeLynn

Thank you for your reply Forero. With this meaning I would be quite comfortable with either if, and I repeat if, there was some negation preceding it - _not, never_ or whatever (I didn't like it either. I haven't seen him either. etc.) By itself it sounds really funny: 
A: I didn't like the movie.
B:Me either. 
I could swear I've never heard it and I've never ever said it myself. 
M&L


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## Forero

MikeLynn said:


> Thank you for your reply Forero. With this meaning I would be quite comfortable with either if, and I repeat if, there was some negation preceding it - _not, never_ or whatever (I didn't like it either. I haven't seen him either. etc.) By itself it sounds really funny:
> A: I didn't like the movie.
> B:Me either.
> I could swear I've never heard it and I've never ever said it myself.
> M&L


I have heard it a lot but have never liked it.  I have also heard "not hardly" (e.g. "I don't hardly either"), which bothers me even more.


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## MikeLynn

Thanks a lot Forero for your reply. As they say: you keep learning. However, if I heard "_me either_", clearly enunciated that way, without your post, I'd be really baffled


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## pwmeek

"Neither" is a response to a negative in the original question:

"I *didn't* go to the party."

"Me neither."

As TT has pointed out (two and a half years ago), the negative can come elsewhere, but it has to be somewhere in the response. "Neither" is as good a place as any.


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## AliBadass

A:I do not have any money. B:Me either/Me neither
I have seen both answers(Me either/Me neither), but is there any differences between them or should we use each of them in special situations?

<<Ali's thread has been merged with an earlier one>>


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## SwissPete

*Me either* is not grammatically correct. Do not use it.

Personally, I would say: "Neither do I".


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## Beryl from Northallerton

>> I have seen both answers (Me either/Me neither)

I wonder where? Every time you've seen 'me either' in this context, it's been wrong.


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## AliBadass

Beryl from Northallerton said:


> >> I have seen both answers (Me either/Me neither)
> 
> I wonder where? Every time you've seen 'me either' in this context, it's been wrong.


Dear Beryl you can see(Me either) in Longman dictionary and now I wonder how could that be wrong when it is written in a dictionary.


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## Beryl from Northallerton

Could you provide a link, perhaps?


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## AliBadass

Beryl from Northallerton said:


> Could you provide a link, perhaps?



I am afraid not but here I can copy it for you: 
*either **3 *_ adverb _

*2 **me either *_ American English __ spoken _ used to say that a negative statement is also true about you :  _‘I don’t have any money right now.’ ‘Me either.’ _


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## perpend

Hi Ali, I can confirm that people say "me either" in American English!

If I heard either "me either" or "me neither" in the context of your OP, I wouldn't even bat an eye, and wouldn't find either of the versions wrong.

I would just continue with the conversation.


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## Parla

Both "me neither" and "me either" are informal/slang. The grammatically correct reply is the one given by Swiss Pete (post #2 #33).


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## Beryl from Northallerton

AliBadass said:


> I am afraid not but here I can copy it for you:
> *either **3 *_adverb _
> 
> *2 **me either *_American English __spoken _used to say that a negative statement is also true about you :  _‘I don’t have any money right now.’ ‘Me either.’ _



In that case, I retract. I had no idea that this was an item of American spoken English. 

By the looks of it though, it's non-standard American English.


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## Thomas Tompion

I share Beryl's distaste for 'me either' in this context in BE.

It would raise eyebrows and be seen as wrong in the UK.


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## DonnyB

I agree with Beryl and Thomas: I've never heard anyone say "me either" in BE.  "Me neither" is used colloquially, but it's wrong: you should say "Neither do I".


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## perpend

I found the link to the info that Ali posted earlier:

_2: _*me either *_American English spoken _used to say that a negative statement is also true about you: I don't have any money right now.' 'Me either.' 

http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/either_3

Is this a reputable source?


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## sound shift

DonnyB said:


> I've never heard anyone say "me either" in BE.


Me either. Me neither. Neither have I.


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## Peter_Gabriel

Thomas Tompion said:


> The obvious point - too obvious to be made, perhaps - is that when you are saying that you share a negative point of view, you need to use a subject pronoun.
> 
> Long form:
> 
> A: _I don't like carrots_
> B: _*I* don't like them either._
> 
> _I don't like them either_ -> _I don't either_ -> _neither do I_ (the preferred option of young codgers like me)
> 
> To start this statement _me_, is to make a bad beginning, and to add _either_ is to remove the negative force which you need.
> 
> I'm sorry to learn that this is becoming a linguistic habit.


X: "It is not that necessary for me"
Y: "For me neither" is 'for me neither' correct?


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