# neither _ nor



## Qcumber

Hi. I'm not sure I grasped the neither _ nor structure in Tagalog.
What do you think of my sentence?
*Walâ akóng súlat ni parséla pára sa iyó.*
= I have neither letter nor parcel for you.


----------



## youtin

The sentence is correct 

By the way, is this almost the exact equivalent of Spanish *ni*, as in :

No tengo carta ni paquete para ti. (grammar?)


----------



## Qcumber

youtin said:


> By the way, is this almost the exact equivalent of Spanish *ni*, as in : No tengo carta ni paquete para ti. (grammar?)


Thank you.
I guess *ni* was borrowed from Spanish. Do you know how Tagalogs expressed my sentence before they borrowed *ni*?


----------



## youtin

These sentence structures are quite common :

Wala akong sulat o parsela *man lang* para sa iyo.

Using *ni,* but in a different position:

Ni sulat o parsela *man lang* wala (ako para sa iyo).

Also, I notice that using ni in the middle position is used mostly in the literary sense.


----------



## Qcumber

youtin said:


> Wala akong sulat o parsela *man lang* para sa iyo.


You replaced* ni* by *o _ man lang*.
*O *like *ni* was borrowed from Spanish.
How could Old Tagalogs have said: I have neither letter nor parcel for you?


----------

