Either, Neither & Both

Form

All three words look at exactly two things.

Both means the two together and takes a plural noun and a plural verb (Both trains arrive at noon), while either (one or the other) and neither (not one and not the other) take a singular noun and a singular verb (Either date works; Neither answer is correct). Add of before a plural noun or pronoun and the same agreement holds: both of my parents work, but either of them is fine and neither of us wants to go. Each word also has a fixed partner for joining two items — both … and, either … or, neither … nor — and neither carries the negative by itself, so the verb after it stays positive (Neither team won).

When to Use It

1. 1

   Use both when you mean the two taken together, with a plural noun and a plural verb

   Both teams were late for the match.

2. 2

   Use either when one of the two is enough and it does not matter which, with a singular noun and a singular verb

   Either date works for me.

3. 3

   Use neither to rule out the two at once, and leave out not, because neither is already negative

   Neither answer is correct.

4. 4

   Keep the fixed pairs together when you join two items — both … and, either … or, neither … nor — as in “You can pay with either cash or a card”; in the neither … nor pair the verb matches whichever noun sits closest to it

   Neither the CEO nor the board members were willing to comment.

5. 5

   Use either in front of a singular noun to mean each of two sides of something

   There are tall hedges on either side of the driveway.

6. 6

   Put either at the end of a negative sentence where a positive one would take too

   I didn't enjoy the book, and I didn't like the movie either.

Common Mistakes

• Doubling the negative: write Neither of them is cheap, not Neither of them isn't cheap — neither already makes the sentence negative.
• Getting the verb wrong after of: write Both of my parents work, not works. In careful writing, either of and neither of take a singular verb: “Neither of us wants to go.”
• Crossing the pairs: write either cash or a card and neither my phone nor my laptop, not either cash and a card or neither my phone or my laptop.
• Stretching both past two: write I've hiked all of them about three routes, not both of them — both only ever covers two, and all takes over from there.
• Ending a negative sentence with neither: write I didn't like the movie either, not I didn't like the movie neither — neither does that job only at the start of a clause, with the verb in front of the subject, as in “Neither did I.”