Unit 89. Both / both of, neither / neither of, either / either of
Unit 89; Part A

For example, you are going out to eat. There are two possible restaurants. You say:
• Both restaurants are very good. (not The both restaurants)
• Neither restaurant is expensive.
• We can go to either restaurant. I don\'t mind. (either = one or the other, it doesn\'t matter which one)
Unit 89; Part B

We use both of / neither of / either of + the / these / my / Tom\'s ... etc. So we say \'both of the restaurants\', \'both of those restaurants\' etc. (but not both of restaurants):
• Both of these restaurants are very good.
• Neither of the restaurants we went to was (or were) expensive.
• I haven\'t been to either of those restaurants. (= I haven\'t been to one or the otherl
You don\'t need of after both. So you can say:
• Both my parents are from London. or Both of my parents ...
You can use both of/ neither of / either of + us / you / them:
• (talking to two people) Can either of you speak Spanish?
• I asked two people the way to the station, but neither of them could help me.
You must say \'both of\' before us / you / them:
• Both of us were very tired. (not Both us were ...)
After neither of ... a singular or a plural verb is possible:
• Neither of the children wants (or want) to go to bed.
Unit 89; Part C

• I couldn\'t decide which of the two shirts to buy. I liked both. (or I liked both of them)
• \'Is your friend British or American?\' \'Neither. She\'s Australian.\'
• \'Do you want tea or coffee?\' \'Either. I don\'t mind.\'
Unit 89; Part D

both ... and ... | • Both Chris and Pat were late. • I was both tired and hungry when I arrived home. |
neither ... nor ... | • Neither Chris nor Pat came to the party. • Tom said he would contact me, but he neither wrote nor phoned. |
either ... or ... | • I\'m not sure where Maria\'s from. She\'s either Spanish or Italian. • Either you apologise or I\'ll never speak to you again. |
Unit 89; Part E

• There are two good hotels here. You could stay at either of them. | • There are many good hotels here. You could stay at any of them. |
• We tried two hotels. Neither of them had any rooms. Both of them were full. | • We tried a lot of hotels. None of them had any rooms. All of them were full. |
Exercises
![]() | Unit 88 Unit 89 Unit 90 | ![]() |