Both, either, and neither are the "exactly two" family. They work only when the choice is between two specific things — two options, two people, two objects. For three or more, English switches to each, every, or all.
| WORD | MEANING | COVERS |
|---|---|---|
| both | the two together | A and B |
| either | one or the other | A or B |
| neither | not one and not the other | not A, not B |
All three sentences talk about the same two answers. Only the relationship to them changes.
Both
Both refers to the pair as a whole. The meaning is plural, so the verb is plural too.
There are two ways to attach both to a noun:
- both + plural noun — both hands, both children, both cars
- both of + determiner + plural noun — both of my hands, both of the children, both of those cars
With a pronoun, of is required: both of us, both of them, both of you — never both us.
On its own, both works as a pronoun when the noun is already clear from context.
Either
Either picks one of the two, and it doesn't matter which. It's inherently positive: the option is open.
As a determiner, either goes directly before a singular noun.
With a plural noun or pronoun, use either of.
The verb after either as a determiner is singular: either answer is correct, not are correct. After either of + plural noun, the traditional rule is also singular — either of the hotels is fine — but in everyday speech and writing the plural (are fine) is widely accepted. Both work; the singular form sounds more formal.
Neither
Neither is the negative twin of either: not one and not the other. It already contains the negative, so the verb and the rest of the sentence stay positive.
The syntax mirrors either:
- neither + singular noun — neither hand, neither car, neither candidate
- neither of + plural noun/pronoun — neither of us, neither of my parents, neither of the options
Because neither is already negative, don't add another negative to the sentence. I don't like neither is a double negative and is considered wrong in standard English — use I like neither or I don't like either.
As with either of, the verb after neither of + plural noun is traditionally singular (neither of them is ready) but commonly heard in the plural (neither of them are ready). The singular is the safer choice in writing.
The correlative pairs: both...and, either...or, neither...nor
The same three words also link two elements inside one sentence. In this role they are correlative conjunctions — they always come in a fixed pair.
both...and — two things together.
either...or — one option or the other.
neither...nor — not one and not the other.
The pairings are fixed: either only goes with or, neither only goes with nor. Mixing them (either...nor, neither...or) is a frequent mistake.
When the joined elements are both singular, the verb is singular too.
If one of the joined elements is plural, the verb agrees with the closer one — the element nearest to the verb wins.
Two, not three
The sharpest limit on this family: they only work for exactly two. If you're choosing among three or more items, English uses a different set of words — each, every, all, any, none. Those have their own rules and are covered separately.
If you have three restaurants to choose from, you can't say either restaurant — you need any of the restaurants. If you want to say none of three options work, it's none of them, not neither of them.
Common mistakes
Verb agreement with both
Singular noun after either / neither
Missing of before a pronoun
Double negative with neither
Wrong partner word in the pair
Using the pair for three or more