# EN: either ... or / neither ... nor



## 2preciosa4u

J'ai beaucoup de difficulté avec "comment dire ni" en anglais.

Par exemple, dans cette phrase je ne pourrais pas dire lequel mettre entre neither, nor ou or : They are not worried about where their future go neither/nor/or about the possibility of falling. (Les corrections sont apprécié)

Merci.

Moderator note: two threads on this subject have been merged.


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## cropje_jnr

Il est difficile de savoir exactement comment traduire quand on n'a pas de phrase en français, mais voici mes suggestions :

They are not worried about where their future *lies*, *nor* about the possibility of falling.
They are not worried about where their future *lies* *or* about the possibility of falling.
They are worried *neither *about where their future lies *nor* about the possibility of falling.

En fait, c'est assez compliqué, ce gendre de phrase...


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## Moon Palace

In case it can be helpful, what should be kept in mind is that 'neither .. nor' is used when there is a double negation: _He likes neither tea nor coffee. _(not this and not that)

'either ... or' is used to express double choice: 
_'You can have either tea or coffee'. _(both this and that are options)


It does not only apply to complements, you can also use it for verbs:
'He either phoned her or wrote to her, but I know they got in touch last week'
'She neither phoned nor wrote, so I can't tell you where she is by now.'

Hope it helps.


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## besoul

Hey. I was wondering when do you put neither...nor instead of either...or. I mean, for example, do you say I don't like neither chocolate nor milk or either chocolate or milk? And would you say I like it, but neither chocolate... or with either? Thanks for advance.


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## jetset

En règle générale, on ne redouble pas les négations. [...]


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## Pierre Simon

besoul said:


> ...for example, do you say I don't like neither chocolate nor milk or either chocolate or milk?


 
I don't like *either* chocolate *or* milk
I like *neither* chocolate *nor* milk


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## nesrine

Hello, 

could you please help me to find the correct form of the sentence and explain why?

it has no impact either on the safety or on the efficacy of the product

or

it has no impact neither on the safety nor on the efficacy of the

THX


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## Micia93

I'd choose the 2nd suggestion with "neither" and "nor" because of the "no (impact)", but I'm  not a native ...


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## Wordsmyth

Your first sentence is correct, nesrine, but, like Micia, I prefer "neither .. nor": it's a little neater than "no .. either .. or".

However, your second sentence is incorrect, because you have a double negative (no ... neither).

If you want to use 'neither .. nor', you could say "It has impact neither on the safety nor on the efficacy ..." (or effectiveness : a more common term). However 'has impact' sounds a little unusual to my ear, and the sentence is a little heavy.

Personally I would say "It impacts *neither* the safety *nor* the effectiveness ..."

Ws


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## Lotuselisa

it has neither impact on the safety nor on the efficacy ....


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## misterk

No, Lotuselisa's suggestion does not work, because it is not a parallel construction.

It would have to be: It has impact neither on the safety nor on the efficacy...


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## beri

I am not sure about what to use in this sentence:

Si *aucun *participant n’est *ni* [blessé] *ni* [ensanglanté], vous pouvez défausser cette carte immédiatement.
If *no *character involved is *either *[injured] *or *[bloody], you may discard this immediately.

Tenkyu


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## Maître Capello

Que cherchez-vous à dire exactement ? La phrase en français n'a en effet pas beaucoup de sens en raison de la double négation… Vouliez-vous dire : _Si *aucun* participant *n'*est blessé *ou* ensanglanté…_ ?

Si c'est le cas, on dira en anglais : _If *no* character is wounded *or* bloody_… Je ne vois en effet aucune raison de vouloir mettre _either_.


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## Wordsmyth

Maître Capello said:


> Je ne vois en effet aucune raison de vouloir mettre _either_


  ... Moi non plus.

Ws


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