To denote the sense of “not one or the other of two,” we use the paired correlative conjunction “neither…nor” to join two noun forms or two independent clauses. The pair works neatly in joining two correlated nouns, as in “
Neither the bride nor the groom made it to the wedding on time” and in joining two correlated independent clauses, as in “
Neither does Ana want to go with us now
nor does she want to follow us later.”
But this very interesting question about the conjunctive pair was raised by a Forum member: “Can ‘nor’ be used without its partner ‘neither’?”
It might come as a surprise to some of us, but the answer is a definite “yes.” By its lonesome, “nor” works to introduce the second or last member or the second and each member of a series of negated items that follows, as in the sentence “The burden
wasn’t carried by you nor by me nor by anyone for that matter.” This is the most common task of “nor” when used as a stand-alone conjunction.
IMAGE CREDIT: TEACHINGDISPLAYS.CO.UKHowever, when there are only two members of a series of negated items, “nor” needs “neither” to work by forming the negative correlative form “neither…nor,” as in “
Neither you nor I carried the burden.” Keep in mind though that here, the negative correlative “neither…nor” is only used to mean “not one or the other of two.” When the reference is to “none of several,” “neither” doesn’t work and “none” must be used instead: “
None of the five reelectionists passed the advocacy group’s integrity test.”
Likewise, the conjunction “neither” isn’t used in tandem with “nor” when “nor” introduces and negates a succeeding clause or phrase. We don’t say “
Neither did the candidate mind being labeled a family dynast,
nor did she mind being deemed unqualified”; we knock down “neither” and say it this way: “The candidate
didn’t mind being labeled a family dynast,
nor did she mind being deemed unqualified.”
On a more profound note, the same stand-alone usage of “nor” can be seen in Psalm 121:6 of the
New International Version of the Bible: “
The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.”
It is important to remember these three grammatical caveats to ensure that “nor” works correctly when used in tandem with “neither”:
(1) When two subjects are linked by “neither…nor,” the verb that follows them must agree in number—whether singular or plural—with the subject nearer that verb. In the example that follows, the verb must be in the singular form “wants” to agree with the singular noun “brother”: “
Neither her parents nor her brother wants Alicia to get married before she finishes college.” Conversely, the verb must be in the plural form “want” to agree with the plural “parents” in this other example: “
Neither her brother nor her parents want Alicia to get married before she finishes college.”
IMAGE CREDIT: SLIDESHARE.NET (2) When two antecedent subjects are linked by “neither…nor,” the pronoun that comes after them must agree with the antecedent subject closer to it. The singular pronoun “his” is needed for “Emilio”: “
Neither his coworkers nor Emilio finished
his assignment that day.” The plural pronoun “their” is needed for “coworkers”: “
Neither Emilio nor his coworkers finished
their work that day.”
(3) When two independent clauses are linked by “neither…nor,” they should have the same grammatical form and be structurally parallel. Example: “
Neither did Juliet inform her boss nor did she tell her fellow employees about her plan to quit her job.” In this example, both “neither” and “nor” are followed by the past tense of the helping verb “do” before the main verbs “inform” and “tell,” making the clauses functionally coequal and structurally parallel in the negative sense.
(Next:
Play it by ear whether to use a gerund or infinitive) February 21, 2019
This essay, 1,131st of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the February 14, 2019 print edition of The Manila Times
, © 2019 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
