# Me either / Me neither



## lixiaohejssz

Hello, everyone!
    Here comes another confusion. I am sure the following sentences are right.
    Anna isn't happy. Joan isn't happy either.
    Anna isn't happy. Neither is Joan.

    But I don't know which of the following is also right ,
    Anna isn't happy. Me either.
    Anna isn't happy. Me neither.

Thanks in advantage!


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## lingobingo

Both “me either” and “me neither” are very informal/casual usage, almost slang. A more normal way to say it would be “Neither am I” or “Nor am I”.


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## DonnyB

I don't have any objection to "me neither", but "me either" sounds a bit 'off' to me, and I wouldn't personally use it (at least, not in that particular example).


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## JJXR

lixiaohejssz said:


> Anna isn't happy. Me either.


I think the first sentence shouldn't be in the negative, then "Me either" would work:

_Anna is happy. Me either._

Am I right?


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## lingobingo

Definitely not! *Me either *is a slang way of saying neither am I or neither do I. See the example here: either_Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary


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## JJXR

Thanks for the explanation, lingobingo.


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## zaffy

Franzi said:


> "Me neither" is quite casual.



I know it is colloquial, yet I've been told that is BE. Supposedly AE uses "Me either". Do you agree?


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## se16teddy

In my experience
_Me neither _is very common in conversation.
I have only seen and heard _me either _in American books and TV.

(_Neither_ and _either_ are like _scone_ in that there is a kind of culture war over the pronunciation, but that is a separate issue!)


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## merquiades

zaffy said:


> I know it is colloquial, yet I've been told that is BE. Supposedly AE uses "Me either". Do you agree?


I have no problem with "me either" or "me neither" and use them frequently.    I might use "neither am I" or "neither do I" as formal equivalents.


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## Edinburgher

se16teddy said:


> I have only seen and heard _me either _in American books and TV.


And only spoken by children who have not yet learned the right way to say it.


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## zaffy

merquiades said:


> I have no problem with "me either" or "me neither" and use them frequently. I might use "neither am I" or "neither do I" as formal equivalents.



And do you use 'nor'? Or does it sound BE to your AE ears? 

A: I'm not going to the lecture this afternoon.
B: Nor am I.


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## merquiades

zaffy said:


> And do you use 'nor'? Or does it sound BE to your AE ears?
> 
> A: I'm not going to the lecture this afternoon.
> B: Nor am I.


It just sounds extremely formal to my ears, not specifically from any place.  I might write "nor" but I'd never say it.


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## zaffy

merquiades said:


> It just sounds extremely formal to my ears, not specifically from any place. I might write "nor" but I'd never say it.



That's interesting. And does "Nor do I" sound more formal than "Neither do I" in BE? Can a BE speaker share their thoughts?


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## lingobingo

In my experience, *nor* and *neither* are interchangeable in UK British English. There’s no difference in formality.


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## zaffy

lingobingo said:


> In my experience, *nor* and *neither* are interchangeable in UK British English. There’s no difference in formality.


And do you have a personal preference?


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## lingobingo

No. But I probably use *nor do I* more often than *neither do I*, if only because it’s shorter!


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## You little ripper!

lingobingo said:


> In my experience, *nor* and *neither* are interchangeable in UK British English. There’s no difference in formality.


It’s the same in Australian English.


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## zaffy

lingobingo said:


> No. But I probably use *nor do I* more often than *neither do I*, if only because it’s shorter!





You little ripper! said:


> It’s the same in Australian English.



And have you ever used "me neither"? Do you hear people say it in your environments?


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## lingobingo

I’m sure I have said that, yes. But more often I’d say “nor me”.


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## You little ripper!

zaffy said:


> And have you ever used "me neither"? Do you hear people say it in your environments?


I may have done in the past, but I now use ‘Neither do I” or ‘Nor do I’. It’s quite common here, especially with young people.


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## owlman5

Edinburgher said:


> And only spoken by children who have not yet learned the right way to say it.


 _Me either_ isn't restricted to the speech of children who don't know any better. I use it regularly, as do many other adults who speak U.S. English. I rarely if ever hear_ Me neither _over here although _Neither am I _would be a normal reply to lixiaohejssz's comment about Anna's unhappiness.


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## Wordy McWordface

This would be my choice, in order of preference:

- I'm not going to the lecture this afternoon.

- Neither am I. 
- Nor am I. 
- Me neither. 
- I'm not, either. 
- Me either. 

I agree with @lingobingo that "Neither I am" and "Nor am I" are completely interchangeable in BrE, with no difference at all in level of formality.

My personal choice would be for "Neither am I" rather than "Nor am I", simply because I find it easier to say, especially with a following vowel.  I think it has to do with the linking 'r'. In a non-rhotic accent, reinserting the 'r' in a stressed syllable -  /'nɔːrəmaɪ/ - feels rather more awkward than in an unstressed one - /ˈnaɪðərəmaɪ/.  When the following word begins with the consonant, though, I think I use them interchangeably.  For example, "Nor do I" feels just as natural to me as "Neither do I".   I'd be interested to see what other 'non-rhotis' here think about this.

"Me neither" feels more informal  than either of the above.  I wouldn't use it in formal contexts, or when I'm trying to be polite.

"I'm not, either" is an alternative that I thought I'd just throw in there to see what other people think.

"Me either" just sounds completely and utterly wrong to my British ear. Sorry.


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## lingobingo

Wordy McWordface said:


> "Me either" just sounds completely and utterly wrong to my British ear.


To mine too. I don’t think I’ve even heard anyone use it here.


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## You little ripper!

Wordy McWordface said:


> "Me either" sounds completely and utterly wrong to my British ear. Sorry.


Same here, but that’s because it’s informal American English.


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## heypresto

You little ripper! said:


> Same here, but that’s because it’s informal American English.



We adopt so many other informal AE usages, but we haven't (yet?) adopted this one. It's strange isn't it?


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## Wordy McWordface

heypresto said:


> We adopt so many other informal AE usages, but we haven't (yet?) adopted this one. It's strange isn't it?




Yes.  We seem to have resisted this one, along with the equally baffling "I could care less".


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## You little ripper!

heypresto said:


> We adopt so many other informal AE usages, but we haven't (yet?) adopted this one. It's strange isn't it?


It’s creeping in here, like catchee monkey.


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## You little ripper!

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


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## Roxxxannne

I use 'me neither' but maybe that's just another New England regional hangover from centuries gone by.


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## zaffy

Well, life is always full of surprises.    I asked a Birt from South Molton the same question and he didn't like the 'nor' version, saying it sounded AE to him.  This is what he told me. How come? Don't some Brits use the 'nor' version?


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## Wordy McWordface

zaffy said:


> Well, life is always full of surprises.    I asked a Birt from South Molton the same question and he didn't like the 'nor' version, saying it sounded AE to him.  This is what he told me. How come? Don't some Brits use the 'nor' version?
> 
> 
> View attachment 49437



_Don't some Brits use the 'nor' version? _

Of course we do! Everyone who has answered here has confirmed that we use 'Nor do I" in Britain.

Just because your_ Birt from South Molton_ has an aversion to "Nor do I" doesn't mean that the other 60-odd million of us (who aren't called Birt and who don't come from South Molton) don't say it.


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## heypresto

zaffy said:


> Well, life is always full of surprises.


That's true, but it shouldn't come as a surprise that we are not all robots programmed by some 'Correct English' super-nerd to all speak in exactly the same way, and to agree with each other about everything, all the time. If you come across differences, there is nothing to be gained by exploiting them to divide us. There is much to be gained by accepting them.

For what it's worth, 'Nor do I' sounds _perfectly _natural to me.


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## zaffy

Yeah, I do realise that we are all different.  But you all say "Nor do I" is BE, dictionaries say the same, coursebooks say the same and I'm pretty sure most BE speakers use that form. What's more, Brits can hear it on TV and on the radio too, I suppose. So how come a Birt says it sounds AE if it is all around him? Weird, isn't it?


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## Roxxxannne

Just to unite us (#31), I've heard 'nor do I' in the US, not as much as 'me either' or (my preferred) 'me neither.' 
There are also 'same here' and 'likewise,' which can work in reply to either negative or positive statements.


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## zaffy

So I made this summary and I believe I'm not wrong 

A: I don't like her.

B: Neither do I. (standard BE and AE)
B: Nor do I. (standard BE)
B: Me neither. (colloquial BE + rearly AE)
B: Me either. (colloquial AE)


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## Wordy McWordface

_ Yeah, I do realise that we are all different.  But you all say "Nor do I" is BE, dictionaries say the same, coursebooks say the same and I'm pretty sure most BE speakers use that form. What's more, Brits can hear it on TV and on the radio too, I suppose. So how come a Birt says it sounds AE if it is all around him? Weird, isn't it?_ 

Not really.  Unless they're experts in their field, people generally know about what they do or don't do, not about what others do or don't do.

Your Birt chap doesn't say 'Nor do I'.  Fair enough.  Maybe his friends and family don't say it, either.  Maybe it's simply not used much in South Molton, which, according to Wikipedia, is a pleasant little town of around 5000 people in Devon in the far south west of England.  That's all possible.  Now, when people are asked about something unfamiliar, they tend to assume it's a feature of the 'other'.  A thousand years ago, the 'other', for the folks of South Molton, would have been the dialect of the next village.  A hundred years ago, the 'other' would have been the dialect of the neighbouring county of Somerset. Nowadays, the 'other' is American English.  It's not what he says, so he assumes it must be American.  I've come across Americans who presumed that an unfamiliar phrasing used in the next state sounds weird so it must be British.

So, unless your Devonian friend happens to be a language expert, I wouldn't set too much store by his opinion, to be honest.


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## owlman5

Wordy McWordface said:


> "Me either" just sounds completely and utterly wrong to my British ear. Sorry.


There isn't any need to apologize, Wordy. I doubt that many U.S. citizens are worried about how their English might sound to British ears*. I would be astonished to learn that my opinions about B.E. had _any_ influence on how people talk in the U.K. Why should they? 

*Or to any foreign ears, for that matter.




zaffy said:


> So I made this summery and I believe I'm not wrong
> 
> A: I don't like her.
> 
> B: Neither do I. (standard BE and AE)
> B: Nor do I. (standard BE)
> B: Me neither. (colloquial BE + rearly AE)
> B: Me either. (colloquial AE)


Don't forget _I don't either. _That is also a common option in the U.S. and probably the one I hear most frequently when people are agreeing that they don't like someone or something.


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## merquiades

zaffy said:


> So I made this summary and I believe I'm not wrong
> 
> A: I don't like her.
> 
> B: Neither do I. (standard BE and AE)
> B: Nor do I. (standard BE)
> B: Me neither. (colloquial BE + rearly AE)
> B: Me either. (colloquial AE)


I'd just say there is not much colloquial about  _Me neither/me either _or _me too_.  It's so standard to me I'd use it in any context.


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## Wordy McWordface

I agree with @merquiades about _Me neither _and _me too.  _These responses are standard English. They may be perceived as more informal than the phrases involving inversion, but they're definitely standard, rather than colloquial.


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## wildan1

Roxxxannne said:


> I use 'me neither' but maybe that's just another New England regional hangover from centuries gone by.


Well, I grew up in the US Midwest and for years have lived in the mid-Atlantic, and I use and frequently hear others use _Me neither,_ which to me is standard, not colloquial--but mostly in spoken language.

To those not familiar, the first vowel in AE _neither_ rhymes with _breather_, not _tiger. Me either _sounds unpleasant to me because of the elision of the two vowels: _"meether"_.


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## zaffy

Wordy McWordface said:


> I agree with @lingobingo that "Neither I am" and "Nor am I" are completely interchangeable in BrE, with no difference at all in level of formality.



Oxford claims there is a slight difference.

https://images92.fotosik.pl/442/eda3b337a05a4250.jpg


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## You little ripper!

zaffy said:


> Oxford claims there is a slight difference.
> 
> https://images92.fotosik.pl/442/eda3b337a05a4250.jpg


‘Nor’ in other contexts might be a bit more formal, but I don’t think it is in this phrase. You hear both in casual conversation.


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## merquiades

zaffy said:


> Oxford claims there is a slight difference.
> 
> https://images92.fotosik.pl/442/eda3b337a05a4250.jpg


It's amazing how language can be so different at times.  Those examples don't sound at all natural for me.


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## zaffy

merquiades said:


> It's amazing how language can be so different at times. Those examples don't sound at all natural for me.


So can you tell me how you would convert them into AE?

Barbara can’t drive. Neither/nor can her hsuband.
They haven’t got a dishwasher. Neither/nor have we.
The ham didn’t taste very nice. Neither/nor the eggs.


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## merquiades

zaffy said:


> So can you tell how you would convert them into AE?
> 
> Barbara can’t drive. Neither/nor can her hsuband.
> They haven’t got a dishwasher. Neither/nor have we.
> The ham didn’t taste very nice. Neither/nor the eggs.


This is what I'd say spontaneously (in order of preference).
--Barbara can't drive a car.  ---Her husband can't either / Her husband either / Her husband neither / Neither can her husband.
--They don't have (own) a / any dishwasher.   -- We don't either / Us neither / We don't have one either.
-- The ham didn't taste very good.  -- The eggs didn't either / The eggs either / The eggs neither / The eggs weren't so good either / Neither did the eggs.
I could never say "nor".  It sounds very strange to my ears.  A bit like using "shant".


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## zaffy

merquiades said:


> Us neither



And those AE speakers who use "me either", would say "us either", right?


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## merquiades

zaffy said:


> And those AE speakers who use "me either", would say "us either", right?


I do.  "We either" sounds off.


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## owlman5

zaffy said:


> And those AE speakers who use "me either", would say "us either", right?


Believe it or not, I have probably never used _us either* _in my life.  _We don't either _would be my choice if I needed to comment about something that we didn't have or didn't like.

*I haven't used _we either _either.


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## zaffy

I see, so is "*me* either" is the only pronoun the US version works with? How about "him either", "her either" "them either"?


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## owlman5

zaffy said:


> How about "him either", "her either" "them either"?


I imagine that these pop up every now and then.  I would be lying if I claimed to have some reliable memory about the last time I heard anybody use one of those phrases.


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## merquiades

zaffy said:


> I see, so is "*me* either" is the only pronoun the US version works with? How about "him either", "her either" "them either"?


I use all these versions on occasion, and _you either _too.
I'll try to make up some example
-- I'm not going to the party tomorrow night
-- You (n)either?  What's going on?  Peter just called to say he and Sandy aren't coming.
-- Them (n)either?  I guess everyone must be sick.
-- No, Sandy's mother is moving out.
-- Oh, her too?


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## zaffy

merquiades said:


> *I could never say "nor"*. It sounds very strange to my ears. A bit like using "shant".



So you don't like, for example, "Nor do I" in AE, yet this example works for you as it is a different usage of 'nor', right?

"Tom didn’t dance with Ann, nor did he talk to her."


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## merquiades

zaffy said:


> So you don't like, for example, "Nor do I" in AE, yet this example works for you as it is a different usage of 'nor', right?
> 
> "Tom didn’t dance with Ann, nor did he talk to her."


This works fine, but I just wouldn't say it.  I might say,  "Tom didn't dance or talk to Anne".   "Tom didn't dance with Ann, or talk to her either".


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## zaffy

merquiades said:


> This works fine, but I still wouldn't say it.



And would you say it with 'neither'? 
"Tom didn’t dance with Ann; neither did he talk to her."


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## merquiades

zaffy said:


> And would you say it with 'neither'?
> "Tom didn’t dance with Ann; neither did he talk to her."


No, I'd say.   Tom didn't dance with Anne and he didn't talk to her either.
I'm sure you can find people who would say it though.  It sounds bookish.


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## Roxxxannne

For personal pronouns with 'neither' I only use '*me neither*.'  None of this 'her neither,' 'us either' stuff for me.
I do say '*not *her/him/them/you/us *either*.' though.
I don't say 'nor I' or 'nor do I' but it sounds perfectly ordinary when someone else says it.  

Incidentally, my father said _eye-ther_ and _nye-ther _and my mother said _ee-ther_ and _nee-ther.  _ I side with my mother.


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## merquiades

Roxxxannne said:


> Incidentally, my father said _eye-ther_ and _nye-ther _and my mother said _ee-ther_ and _nee-ther.  _ I side with my mother.


  It depends for me.
Eye-ther at the beginning...   Either her or me
Ee-ther at the end.....    me either


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## heypresto

It's all very simple really: _Either _doesn't rhyme with either _either _or _neither_, and neither does _neither _rhyme with either _neither_ or _either_. _Either _rhymes with _neither,_ but not _neither,_ and _neither_ rhymes with e_ither, but not either_. Neither _neither _nor _neither_, rhymes with _nether_, and neither _either _nor _either _rhymes with either ether or tether.


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