Should we use “both”, “either”, or “neither”?

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 618.

Are “all” and “whole” used correctly?

Should “no” or “none” be used?

a.“None” is a pronoun, we use it alone, without a noun.

– How many concepts of opportunity costs are used to explain
how the economy works? – None.

b. Before “my”, ”this”, ”the”, etc. or an object pronoun (“us”, “them”) we use none of.

None of the problems were serious enough.

None of us have any money.

c. When we use “none of” with a plural noun, the verb can be singular or plural. A singular verb is more formal.

None of the costs is / are counted in terms of money.

“Whole” means “complete” or “every part of it”. It is normally used with singular countable nouns.

I've spent the whole day trying to catch him, but he wasn't available.

We can use “the”, ”my”, ”this”, etc. with “all” and “whole”, but the word order is different.

Compare: all day – the whole day; all my life – my whole life.

We can use “a whole” before a singular noun.

We spent a whole day together.

But we don't use “whole” with uncountable nouns.

All the future personal growth is taken into consideration.

(Not: The whole growth ...)

a.“Both” = “the two together” or “one and the other”. We use “both” before a plural countable noun.

Both concepts seemed deep and right.

We use “both of” before “the”, “your”, “these”, etc. + plural noun and we often leave out “of”.

Both (of) these choices involve costs.

Note: We cannot leave out “of” before the plural object pronouns: you, us, them.

Both of them have to earn their living.

We can use “both” after an object pronoun.

I consider them both very skilled workers.

b. “Either” / “neither” are used before a singular countable noun.

“Either” = “one or the other”; “neither” = “not one or not the other”

Either production involves costs.

Neither choice is justified.

“Either of” / “neither of” are used before your, these, the, etc.+ a plural countable noun or before the pronouns you, us, them.

Either of these producers makes goods and provides services.

Neither of them could answer major economic questions.

Note: After “neither of” we can use a singular or a plural verb.

Neither of the costs is / are counted in terms of money but
also in terms of resources used.

Neither of the resources used for the bridge is / are available
for something else.

But: A singular verb is more common in a formal style.

c. We use “both”, “either”, “neither” to link the ideas in the structures:

both ... and ...

either ... or ...

neither ... nor ...

This cost is counted both in terms of money and in terms of resources used.

We can either buy a car or spend our money for a stereo.

Neither land nor water belongs to consumer goods.