Hey there! This is TOP episode 140. NEITHER – All You Need To Know!
My name’s Ola and I am an English teacher. My goal is to help you start speaking English with confidence and get rid of speaking barriers. I believe it is achievable for you and it’s time you started speaking English fearlessly! Go to my website for full transcripts and worksheets to each episode. Happy learning!
Hello and welcome to another episode. There was one not long ago about the word ‘either’ so naturally I want to continue the topic and today we’re going to discuss the uses of the word ‘neither’. I hope you’ll learn a lot today! The episode I’ve just talked about the one about the word either was episode number 136. Find it at teacherola.com/136
After listening to the whole episode, don’t forget to download the worksheet. It’s waiting for you at teacherola.com/140.
If you have little time and prefer to go all-in buy the Worksheet Set. It includes The Speaking English Planner, a great tool for monitoring your progress in speaking English. Worksheets will level up your learning with this podcast. Why don’t you buy a whole bunch of them and have easy access to all of them in one place? Visit teacherola.com and go to my shop.
First, we’ll learn something about the pronunciation and later focus on different uses of the word in question. At the end of the episode and you gotta stay till then you will practice. It’s the core of our meetings here so please join me then. Let’s jump in!
First and foremost let’s state that the word we’re talking about today has two pronunciation patterns and in total four ways of pronouncing it. British English: /ˈnaɪðə(r)/, /ˈniːðə(r)/ and American English: /ˈniːðər/, /ˈnaɪðər/.
Let’s now focus on the uses of the word.
Firstly, neither is used to make a negative statement about two objects at once. Neither used with a singular noun, for instance: neither song, neither dress, neither cup means not this one and also not that on when we are talking about two things. So there are two songs, two dresses, two cups. I don’t like this song and I also don’t like the second one. Remember that it’s used in relation to two things.
Neither dress is pretty.
Neither song is good.
Neither cup is clean.
Neither friend came to my party.
I have two friends right, and neither friend came to my party.
Neither hat looked good on her.
What about plural nouns? We have to add ‘of’, ‘neither of’ and plural nouns. For instance: neither of my dresses, neither of them, neither of us, neither of the cups, neither of the dresses, neither of your parents. As you may have noticed, we also need a determiner, like: my, yours, her, the this, these. Neither of these, neither of our friends.
Neither of the outfits will do.
Neither of them will show up.
Neither of my friends went to the cinema.
Neither of the nominated films was great.
Secondly, ‘neither’ can work as a conjunction, something that joins two negative phrases into one longer sentence. Neither …. nor. This tells us about two negative ideas. Listen to this example:
I like neither pizza nor pasta.
Have you noticed? That does sound rather formal. Well, it’s also less common in spoken English. What sounds more natural and everyday is this sentence:
I don’t like pizza or pasta.
Let’s see what is the third occasion to use the word ‘neither’. ‘Neither’ can be used on its own, at the beginning of a sentence. It means ‘also not’. We need to use inverted word order afterwards. For instance.
Adam doesn’t eat meat. Neither do I. or Nor do I.
Eva didn’t know about it. Neither did I. or Nor did I.
I can’t speak Portuguese. Neither can I. or Nor can I.
Each time you have to listen carefully to put the right verb. Neither do I, Neither did I, Neither can I. There’s a solution to this, something easier and universal in its use, and I’m talking about
Me neither.
Adam doesn’t eat meat. Me neither.
Eva didn’t know about it. Me neither.
I can’t speak Portuguese. Me neither.
Time for you to practice. You’re gonna speak out loud, repeating the sentences. Learn more about befits that come out of speaking out loud in episode 9. Teacherola.com/9. Ok, listen and repeat out loud.
Neither dress is pretty.
Neither song is good.
Neither cup is clean.
Neither friend came to my party.
Neither of the outfits will do.
Neither of them will show up.
Neither of my friends went to the cinema.
Neither of the nominated films was great.
I like neither pizza nor pasta.
Adam doesn’t eat meat. Neither do I.
Eva didn’t know about it. Neither did I.
I can’t speak Portuguese. Neither can I.
Well done! Now go to your inbox and grab worksheet 140. How else can you test yourself? 🙂 Complete the worksheet with translations. Worksheets are designed for Polish listeners. Worksheet Sets are available at teacherola.com, the links are below.
I’m also preparing transcript sets so check out my shop. I know that some of you might prefer to read the transcripts on your e-book readers.
If you’re not a member of TOPeople download the worksheet at teacherola.com/140 and become one. It’s free.
If you enjoyed it, please share this episode with one person or share it somewhere on your social media. It’ll help me grow and spread the message. No matter how big your language blockade is, you can and you will overcome it and speak fluently.
Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you next Wednesday! Same time same place. We’ll be talking about the impact of your nearest environment on your language learning. Till then, take care! Happy learning. Stay fearless and say it out loud! Bye!