# I don't like this nor that; I like neither .....



## vitor boldrin

what are the differences and how to use neither,not,nor?
which ones are the correct?

I don't like this nor that.
I don't like this not that.
I neither like this nor that.
I neither like this nor that.
I don't like you nor her.
I don't like you not her.
I cannot sing not dance.
I can neither sing nor dance.
neither can you sing nor dance nor play drums?
cannot you sing not dance not play drums?
I can neither sing nor dance nor swim nor anything.
I can't sing not dance not swim not nothing.


wow!I really can't do anything hahaha
thanks for the answers


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## Florentia52

Which ones do you think are correct, vitor?


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## vitor boldrin

to moderator deletes this topic I unintentionally I've duplicated it my  computer has been crashing I unintentionally lately.
thanks


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## nnq2603

> You don't need to post too many sentences, neither comfortable for you nor anyone else read this topic.
> You don't even want to understand, neither I want to explain it for you.


 Am I correct or incorrect with these sentences above? Sometime I'm not sure about "neither" usage. Neither has got negative meaning, right? "I don't want to explain it for you neither" is easier way to say. But "neither I want to explain it for you" is still correct, right? Which one is more frequently used?


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## vitor boldrin

Florentia52 said:


> Which ones do you think are correct, vitor?



I think these ones.

I don't like this nor that. *yes*
I don't like this not that. *yes*
I neither like this nor that.*yes*
I neither like this nor that. *yes*
I don't like you nor her*.** yes*
I don't like you not her. *yes*
I cannot sing not dance. *yes*
I can neither sing nor dance. *yes*
neither can you sing nor dance nor play drums? *Not sure*
cannot you sing not dance not play drums*?** yes*
I can neither sing nor dance nor swim nor anything. *Not sure*
I can't sing not dance not swim not nothing. *yes*

Now I'd like to know your opinion which of these are correct?


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## Elym97

Hi,

Always think of *neither *and* nor* as buddies, they go together in one sentence. I could be wrong, but I believe if you are going to use *don't *you should use *or.
- I don't like this or that
- I don't like you or her
- I can't sing or dance*


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## DonnyB

There _may _be differences in American English, but for me as a BE speaker, the only ones which work are:
I can neither sing nor dance. _*yes
*_I can neither sing nor dance nor swim nor anything. *yes

*I neither like this nor that.  _I have heard this one, but it works better as:_ I like *neither this nor that

*But you can't say it as: I *don't/can't *do this *nor* that.


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## RM1(SS)

DonnyB said:


> There _may _be differences in American English, but for me as a BE speaker, the only ones which work are:
> I can neither sing nor dance. _*yes
> *_I can neither sing nor dance nor swim nor anything. *yes
> 
> *I neither like this nor that.  _I have heard this one, but it works better as:_ I like *neither this nor that
> 
> *But you can't say it as: I *don't/can't *do this *nor* that.


AE speaker here.  I agree with DonnyB on all counts.


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## Myridon

DonnyB said:


> There _may _be differences in American English, ...I can neither sing nor dance nor swim nor anything. *yes*


I can't say that I really like this one.  It's a little better with "... nor do anything else." (I can't anything?  What does that mean? ) but I can't imagine ever stringing all those "nor"s together myself.  It's very literary and formal and old-fashioned.


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## vitor boldrin

neither can you sing nor dance nor play drums? 
is this one in the interrogative form  wrong?
If not, how to write it right in the interrogative form?


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## DonnyB

For it to be grammatically correct as an interrogative, you'd have to write it as:
"Can you neither sing nor dance nor play drums?"


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## bennymix

> I can neither sing nor dance nor swim nor anything. *Not sure*



This is fine.

[crossed with Donny]


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## vitor boldrin

DonnyB said:


> For it to be grammatically correct as an interrogative, you'd have to write it as:
> "Can you neither sing nor dance nor play drums?"



now are they correct? check these out.

why do you like neither him nor her?
why do you not like him or her?
do you have neither car nor motorcycle?
do you not  have car not motorcycle? 
don't you have car nor motorcycle?
do you have no car no motorcycle?
I don't like you not him.
I don't like you or him.

why cannot "nor " be use in these two last ones?


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## london calling

vitor boldrin said:


> Why do you like neither him nor her?
> Why do you not like him or her?
> Do you have neither a car nor a motorcycle?
> Do you not  have car not motorcycle?
> Don't you have car nor motorcycle?
> Do you have no car no motorcycle?
> I don't like you not him.
> I don't like you or him.


_I like neither you nor him / I don't like (either) you or him_

We tend to prefer_ not...either/or_ to _neither/nor_ in speech, e.g.:

_Why don't you like (either) him or her?_


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## Forero

vitor boldrin said:


> now are they correct? check these out.
> 
> Why do you like neither him nor her?
> Why do you not like him or her?
> Do you have neither car nor motorcycle?
> do you not  have car not motorcycle? *X*
> don't you have car nor motorcycle? *X*
> do you have no car no motorcycle? *X*
> I don't like you not him. *X*
> I don't like you or him.
> 
> Why cannot "nor " be used in these last two?


_Neither_ and _nor_ can be used together as correlative conjunctions:

_I like neither you nor him._
_I neither like you nor want anything to do with him._

With few exceptions the _neither_ part and the _nor_ part should be the same sort of thing, so if the _neither_ part starts with a verb, so should the _nor_ part:

_I neither like you nor him._

_Either_ and _neither_ have other uses too, separately from _or_ or _nor_:


_A football field has goal posts at either end._
_Both are filthy, and neither has any collar._
_I don't like you, and I don't like him either._
_I don't like you, and neither do I like him._

And in sentences such as this last example, _nor_ can also mean "and neither":

_I don't like you, nor do I like him._


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## vitor boldrin

london calling said:


> _I like neither you nor him / I don't like (either) you or him_
> 
> We tend to prefer_ not...either/or_ to _neither/nor_ in speech, e.g.:
> 
> _Why don't you like (either) him or her?_




how is the right way to write these ones?
how would you write them?

Do you not have car not motorcycle? 
Don't you have car nor motorcycle?
Do you have no car no motorcycle?


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## Florentia52

vitor boldrin said:


> how is the right way to write these ones?
> how would you write them?
> Do you not have car not motorcycle?
> Don't you have car nor motorcycle?
> Do you have no car no motorcycle?



As indicated in #14, "Do you have neither car nor motorcycle?" is one way of asking the question. It is a bit formal.

I would be more likely to ask "Do you have a car or a motorcycle?" Depending on intonation, that would mean either (1) that I know you have one or the other, and I want to know which, or (2) that I don't know whether you have either one.

If I had thought the person had one or the other, and then something they said made it seem as though they didn't, then I might ask "Don't you have a car or a motorcycle?"

how is the right way to write these ones?  _What is the right way to write these? _


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## vitor boldrin

are they correct?

I will not train taekwondo or brazilian jiu jitsu.
I will neither train taekwondo nor brazilian jiu jitsu.
I'm not gonna train taekwondo or brazilian jiu jitsu.
I'm gonna neither train taekwondo nor brazilian jiu jitsu.


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## RM1(SS)

Gonna is not an English word, so your last two are incorrect.  Your first would be all right with the addition of _in_: "I will not train in...."   Your second should either be changed to "I will train in neither..." or have _train_ added after _nor_ and then have _in_ added after both _train_s.


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## vitor boldrin

ok,ok


I will not train in taekwondo or brazilian jiu jitsu.


I will train in neither  taekwondo nor brazilian jiu jitsu.
I'm not going to train in taekwondo or brazilian jiu jitsu
I'm going to train in neither taekwondo nor brazilian jiu jitsu.

now are they correct?​


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## vitor boldrin

Folks which of them  is the right way?

You have not sent me one kiss and not one hug.
You have not sent me one kiss and nor one hug.
You neither sent me one kiss and nor one hug.
You haven't sent me one kiss or one hug.


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## Forero

_I will not train in taekwondo or *B*razilian jiu jitsu._
_I will train in neither __ taekwondo nor *B*razilian jiu jitsu._
_I'm not going to train in taekwondo or *B*razilian jiu jitsu._
_I'm going to train in neither taekwondo nor *B*razilian jiu jitsu_.
_You have not sent me one kiss and not one hug._
_You have not sent me one kiss and nor one hug._
_You neither sent me one kiss and nor one hug._
_You haven't sent me one kiss or one hug._


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## vitor boldrin

So, is the right way ?

You sent neither 1 kiss nor 1 hug to me.
If it were  wrong please write for me the right way.


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## bennymix

_You have not sent me one kiss ['and' deleted] nor one hug._(Forero's X)

I don't have a problem with this, informally, though it may not be perfect in grammar.

I think Forero objected to 'and', not the rest.


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## Forero

"You sent neither one kiss nor one hug to me" is grammatical but unusual. I would expect it to be part of a longer statement.


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## Forero

bennymix said:


> _You have not sent me one kiss ['and' deleted] nor one hug._(Forero's X)
> 
> I don't have a problem with this, informally, though it may not be perfect in grammar.
> 
> I think Forero objected to 'and', not the rest.


I would put a comma where the "and" was.


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## vitor boldrin

Hey folks how would each of you write this?
more usual possible in english.


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## DonnyB

vitor boldrin said:


> Hey folks how would each of you write this?
> more usual possible in english.


I'd do it as :
"You've sent me neither a kiss not a hug".


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## Forero

DonnyB said:


> I'd do it as :
> "You've sent me neither a kiss not a hug".


_Not_?


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## vitor boldrin

Not?

I would use nor.


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## DonnyB

Sorry, yes: that was a misprint.  

"You've sent me neither a kiss *nor* a hug"!


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## Gabriel Malheiros

DonnyB said:


> Sorry, yes: that was a misprint.
> 
> "You've sent me neither a kiss *nor* a hug"!





Forero said:


> _Not_?





bennymix said:


> _You have not sent me one kiss ['and' deleted] nor one hug._(Forero's X)
> 
> I don't have a problem with this, informally, though it may not be perfect in grammar.
> 
> I think Forero objected to 'and', not the rest.





RM1(SS) said:


> Gonna is not an English word, so your last two are incorrect.  Your first would be all right with the addition of _in_: "I will not train in...."   Your second should either be changed to "I will train in neither..." or have _train_ added after _nor_ and then have _in_ added after both _train_s.




Hi, everyone

This nor x or topic is really driving me nuts. I've been reading up on this and I still can't figure it out though. On quite a few websites, authors maintain that you should not use nor when the second negative item is a noun, adverb or adjective phrase, that is, when the word that follows nor/or is an adjective, noun or adverb, as in:

"It is not a cat nor a dog" --> It should be "It is not a cat or a dog"
"I am not brave nor coward." --> It should be "I am not brave or coward"

On the website: When to Use “Nor” , the author wrote this:

“Neither” and “nor” are bosom buddies. They require balance.
In all our examples so far, we’ve used “nor” to indicate a negative state that continues after something else negative happens. However, when the second negative item is a noun, adjective, or adverb phrase (4), you should use “or” to continue the negative thought because according to Bryan Garner “the initial negative carries through to all the enumerated elements” (5). For example, when you use the word “not,” the structure “not A or B” is correct. You’d have to say, “He is not interested in math or science”; “He is not interested in math nor science” won’t work. Likewise, “She didn’t speak slowly or clearly” has a better ring to it than “She didn’t speak slowly nor clearly.”
"

As you can see, the author consider it odd whenever one says "Not A nor B", that is, when A and B are both nouns, adjectives or adverbs.

Even so, some people told me that sentences like "Cherry-picking and twisting the fact will not change the future nor the facts." and "She was never single... nor a mom." are correct. As you can notice, both sentences are composed of two negatives, and the second negative item is a noun in both sentences, and therefore both sentences would call for "or". Why is it correct to use "nor" then?

Please, I no longer know where to turn to.


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## DonnyB

I'm probably going to confuse you even further here, but this is how I see those examples using "nor":
1.  "It is not a cat nor a dog" --> That works as "It is* neither *a cat* nor* a dog"
2.  "I am not brave nor coward." --> The problem there is mixing an adjective with a noun: "I am* neither* brave *nor* coward*ly*." will work.

3.  “He is not interested in math or science”.  That works for me if you repeat the preposition: “He is not interested in math *nor in *science”.
4.  "She didn’t speak slowly or clearly" --> Is similar to the cat/dog one in (1). "She spoke *neither* slowly* nor* clearly".

I would class both the cherry-picking and single mom ones as being typical of the construction_ subject + negative verb... *nor *second (positive) verb + second subject._
So:
5.  "Cherry-picking and twisting the fact will not change the future *nor* [will it change] the facts."
6.  "She was never single... *nor* [was she (ever)] a mom."
In both those cases, the second (positive) verb and second subject are elided.

I'm afraid I have absolutely no idea whether that contradicts the advice about whether or not you can use "nor" constructions with nouns, adjectives, adverbial phrases or anything else.


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## Gabriel Malheiros

DonnyB said:


> I'm probably going to confuse you even further here, but this is how I see those examples using "nor":
> 1.  "It is not a cat nor a dog" --> That works as "It is* neither *a cat* nor* a dog"
> 2.  "I am not brave nor coward." --> The problem there is mixing an adjective with a noun: "I am* neither* brave *nor* coward*ly*." will work.
> 
> 3.  “He is not interested in math or science”.  That works for me if you repeat the preposition: “He is not interested in math *nor in *science”.
> 4.  "She didn’t speak slowly or clearly" --> Is similar to the cat/dog one in (1). "She spoke *neither* slowly* nor* clearly".
> 
> I would class both the cherry-picking and single mom ones as being typical of the construction_ subject + negative verb... *nor *second (positive) verb + second subject._
> So:
> 5.  "Cherry-picking and twisting the fact will not change the future *nor* [will it change] the facts."
> 6.  "She was never single... *nor* [was she (ever)] a mom."
> In both those cases, the second (positive) verb and second subject are elided.
> 
> I'm afraid I have absolutely no idea whether that contradicts the advice about whether or not you can use "nor" constructions with nouns, adjectives, adverbial phrases or anything else.


DonnyB, but does things like "It is not a cat nor a dog", "I am not brave nor cowardly" and "I don't like peanuts nor chocolate" work? Can  I use "nor" here?

What about the other two sentences, If I used "or" instead of "nor", would they sound ? "Cherry-picking and twisting the facts will not change the future *or* the facts" and "She was never single *or* a mom"?


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## DonnyB

Gabriel Malheiros said:


> DonnyB, but does things like "It is not a cat nor a dog", "I am not brave nor cowardly" and "I don't like peanuts nor chocolate" work? Can  I use "nor" here?


You would, in my opinion, have to do those using the same construction that I mentioned for examples 5 & 6, but without the elision:
1a. "It is not a cat, *nor is it* a dog."
2a. "I am not brave, *nor am I* a coward."
7.  "I don't like peanuts, *nor do I like* chocolate".

I think they all sound a little bit awkward done like that to be honest, especially that last one.  


Gabriel Malheiros said:


> What about the other two sentences, If I used "or" instead of "nor", would they sound ? "Cherry-picking and twisting the facts will not change the future *or* the facts" and "She was never single *or* a mom"?


Without going back and checking the contexts from which those examples came, my instinctive reaction is that "*or*" works better in the cherry-picking one than it does with the single mom, but I can't put my finger on why.  Maybe it's because that sentence is a little bit odd altogether devoid of context?
6a.  "She was *neither* single *nor* a mom" would make better sense to me.


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## Gabriel Malheiros

DonnyB said:


> You would, in my opinion, have to do those using the same construction that I mentioned for examples 5 & 6, but without the elision:
> 1a. "It is not a cat, *nor is it* a dog."
> 2a. "I am not brave, *nor am I* a coward."
> 7.  "I don't like peanuts, *nor do I like* chocolate".
> 
> I think they all sound a little bit awkward done like that to be honest, especially that last one.
> Without going back and checking the contexts from which those examples came, my instinctive reaction is that "*or*" works better in the cherry-picking one than it does with the single mom, but I can't put my finger on why.  Maybe it's because that sentence is a little bit odd altogether devoid of context?
> 6a.  "She was *neither* single *nor* a mom" would make better sense to me.


That's very puzzling . "She was not single nor a mom" and "It is not a cat nor a dog" and "I don't like chocolate nor peanuts" are three identical sentences. The three of them take A subject (She/It/I) , a verb(was/is/like) and two complements, which are all nouns or adjectives(single/mom/cat/dogs/peanut/chcolate). Do you happen to know why the first is correct and the other two aren't? That seems to be a really fuzzy topic, isn't it? 


But does "She was never single nor a mom" sound better than "She was never a single or a mom"?


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## DonnyB

Gabriel Malheiros said:


> That's very puzzling . "She was not single nor a mom" and "It is not a cat nor a dog" and "I don't like chocolate nor peanuts" are three identical sentences. The three of them take A subject (She/It/I) , a verb(was/is/like) and two complements, which are all nouns or adjectives(single/mom/cat/dogs/peanut/chcolate). Do you happen to know why the first is correct and the other two aren't? That seems to be a really fuzzy topic, isn't it?


I suspect part of the difference is a logical one.  She could be a single mom (i.e. both single and a mom - the two are not mutually exclusive).  Or she could be one but not the other, or neither.  On the other hand, something can't (normally) be both a cat and a dog.



Gabriel Malheiros said:


> But does "She was never single nor a mom" sound better than "She was never a single or a mom"?


You can't say "*a* single".  While I think I prefer "or" rather than "nor" there, as I mentioned earlier I'd really need to see the context for that sentence to give a proper answer on that.

And yes, it's a very fuzzy topic indeed!


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## Gabriel Malheiros

DonnyB said:


> I suspect part of the difference is a logical one.  She could be a single mom (i.e. both single and a mom - the two are not mutually exclusive).  Or she could be one but not the other, or neither.  On the other hand, something can't (normally) be both a cat and a dog.
> 
> You can't say "*a* single".  While I think I prefer "or" rather than "nor" there, as I mentioned earlier I'd really need to see the context for that sentence to give a proper answer on that.
> 
> And yes, it's a very fuzzy topic indeed!


DonnyB, just to make sure: You said before you prefered "She was never single nor a mom" to "She was never single or a mom". Did I get it right? Or do you think "She was never a single or a mom" is better than "She was never single nor a mom"?


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## DonnyB

Gabriel Malheiros said:


> DonnyB, just to make sure: You said before you prefered "She was never single nor a mom" to "She was never single or a mom". Did I get it right? Or do you think "She was never a single or a mom" is better than "She was never single nor a mom"?


I've contradicted myself in fact, haven't I?  

You definitely can't use "She was never *a* single..."  Assuming that for some reason we can't use "She was neither single nor a mom", then it's all a bit contradictory.  Logically, since "single" means _unmarried_, she must have started off life as _single_.  That sentence is so bizarre that the only likely interpretation I can come up with is that someone has called her a "single mom" and the response is that she isn't/wasn't either.  So you could probably use either "or" or "nor" and still wouldn't make much logical sense.

Can you not remember where you found it?


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## Gabriel Malheiros

DonnyB said:


> I've contradicted myself in fact, haven't I?
> 
> You definitely can't use "She was never *a* single..."  Assuming that for some reason we can't use "She was neither single nor a mom", then it's all a bit contradictory.  Logically, since "single" means _unmarried_, she must have started off life as _single_.  That sentence is so bizarre that the only likely interpretation I can come up with is that someone has called her a "single mom" and the response is that she isn't/wasn't either.  So you could probably use either "or" or "nor" and still wouldn't make much logical sense.
> 
> Can you not remember where you found it?


DonnyB, I had found this on Facebook. I had forgotten the  sentences leading up to this, so I went onto the person's page and I found the post.
A guy posted a photo of his recently acquired cat. It is his first cat, but his wife is kind of a cat lover, so she has quite a few. So someone said in the comments: "She(the man's wife) is  not a single mom anymore." Then the man replied: "She was never single... nor a mom"... Is it better than "She was never single... or a mom"?


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## DonnyB

Gabriel Malheiros said:


> DonnyB, I had found this on Facebook. I had forgotten the  sentences leading up to this, so I went onto the person's page and I found the post.
> A guy posted a photo of his recently acquired cat. It is his first cat, but his wife is kind of a cat lover, so she has quite a few. So someone said in the comments: "She(the man's wife) is  not a single mom anymore." Then the man replied: "She was never single... nor a mom"... Is it better than "She was never single... or a mom"?


Ah, right: thank you for that.  

Well, on Facebook of course anything goes!  Joking apart I seriously wouldn't expect anything posted on Facebook to be necessarily representative of good, grammatically correct English.

The context there is the one I envisaged in post #39: someone has used the phrase "single mom" and, as I read it, the guy has replied along the lines of_ she was never single, nor [was she ever] a mom. _ That being the case, I'd go for "*nor*" in preference to "*or*" there.


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