Summary
Highlights
Teacher Mike introduces the topic of 'either' and 'neither', aiming to clarify common confusion regarding their usage. The two main questions addressed are 'me either' vs. 'me neither' and 'neither is' vs. 'neither are'.
Either means 'one of two options'. It can be used to present two choices, like 'either tea or juice'. It's also used in negative sentences, similar to 'too' or 'also' for positive statements. For example, if someone says 'I don't like chicken', the correct response is 'I don't like chicken either', not 'I don't like chicken too'.
Neither means 'not either' or 'zero of two options'. It is often used with 'nor', for example, 'I speak neither Arabic nor Polish'. This means 'I don't speak Arabic and I don't speak Polish'.
The correct phrase is 'me neither'. A trick to remember this is that 'neither' implies 'no and no', which contains an 'N'. While 'neither can I', 'neither do I', etc., are grammatically correct, 'me neither' is a simpler and more versatile option in casual conversation.
When using 'neither', the singular form of the verb should be used. For example, 'neither of them is from South America' or 'neither of them likes pizza'. This is because 'neither' focuses on each individual item separately. Although many native speakers commonly use the plural form in daily conversation, the singular verb form is technically correct.
Both 'either' and 'eether', and 'neither' and 'neether' are acceptable pronunciations.