B1 GrammarB1 Intermediate

Both, either, neither: Quantifiers

Explanation Exercises Downloads

Exercise 2

Exercises:1 2 3

Useboth, either, neithercorrectly to complete the sentences.

You can _____ drive or take the train.

A: Are you at home or at work? B: _____. I'm in the car.

I don't know which film to watch. _____ must be very good.

I didn't like _____ of the films. Both of them were boring.

He was _____ handsome nor unattractive. He was average.

We can take _____ the train or the bus.

_____ my parents went to see the teacher.

_ my brother and I play football, but _ of us play very well.

_____ stay or go. It's your decision.

I don't want to go to _____ of those two pubs. Let's go home.

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Both, either, neither: Grammar chart

Quantifiers – both, either, neither

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We use both, either and neither to talk about two things or people.

Both= A and B (the two things or people)

Either= A or B (one thing/person or the other thing/person)

Neither= not A and not B (zero out of two things or people)

Both / either / neither + noun

We can use both/either/neither + noun

I like both cars.
You can park on either side of the street.
Neither parent was at the meeting.

🔍 Note that we use both + plural noun and either/neither + singular noun.

Both (of) / either of / neither of

We can use both (of) / either of / neither of + the/these/my/her/Peter’s/etc. + noun

Both (of) your parents are really nice.
Either of those two dates is perfect for the wedding. (=We can choose one or the other)
Neither of the tennis players had a great game.

🔍 Note that we don’t need of after both.

Both of your parents are really nice. = Both your parents are really nice.

We can use both of / either of / neither of + us/you/them

Both them did very well in the exam.
Both of them did very well in the exam.
Can either of you give me a coin for the vending machine?
Neither of us knows the truth.

Both / either / neither (without a noun)

We can use both/either/neither alone, without a noun.

A: Do you speak French or Spanish? B: I speak both.
A: Do you want tea or coffee? B: Either. I don’t mind.
A: Which car do you prefer? B: Neither. I think both of them are horrible.

Both … and …/ either … or … / neither … nor …

We can say both … and …/ either … or … / neither … nor … to mention the two things or people that we are talking about.

She ate both the rice and the meat.
Both Susan and Peter helped me with my report.
You need to speak one foreign language, either Spanish or French.
You can either wait here or go home.
I like neither maths nor physics.
He neither called nor texted.

Remember this!

Use either and neither with a singular verb.

Either candidate is good.
Neither of the candidates is good.

(not) either= neither.

I don’t like either of the options. = I like neither of the options.

The word neither is negative, so we use it with positive verbs.

Neither John nor Paula can’t come.
Neither John nor Paula can come.

We also use the word both with positive verbs. We can only use either with negative verbs.

I didn’t like both/neither of the pictures.
I didn’t like either of the pictures.

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