Are these structures correct? (Unit 8)

Question

Hi teachers,Are these structures correct?Neither of + the + plural subject + singular verb + complement.Neither of + these/those + plural subject + singular verb + complement.Neither of + my, your, his, etc. + plural subject + singular verb + complement.Neither of + us/you/them + plural subject + singular verb + complement.Though I also tell my students this:The verb after ‘neither of’  can be in 3rd person affirmative singular (formal / correct) but it can also be in plural in informal conversation.Thanks in advance.

Shawn79 · Accepted Answer

All your structures are correct, although in two cases, the "plural subject" is optional:

Thinking SpainNeither of + these/those + plural subject + singular verb + complement.

Neither of these (people) is/are rich.

Thinking SpainNeither of + us/you/them + plural subject + singular verb + complement.

Neither of you (children) is/are getting ice cream.

Thinking SpainThough I also tell my students this:The verb after ‘neither of’ can be in 3rd person affirmative singular (formal / correct) but it can also be in plural in informal conversation.

That is correct as my English textbook states: "In an informal style, a plural verb is possible."

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi,
Thank you very much once again so, after the plural demostratives and the plural object pronouns the "plural subject" is optional. I didn't know that one.

Neither of + the + plural subject + singular verb + complement.
Neither of + these/those + plural subject + singular verb + complement.
Neither of + my, your, his, etc. + plural subject + singular verb + complement.
Neither of + us/you/them + plural subject + singular verb + complement.

One more to go please, is there a way to include what is in blue in just one word, or it is just impossible?
Like for example this one:
These are the combinations for ‘Neither’:
Neither + singular subject + singular verb + complement.
TS

Shawn79 · Answer

You're welcome again!

Thinking SpainOne more to go please, is there a way to include what is in blue in just one word, or it is just impossible?

My textbook summarizes it in the heading as simply "neither of + plural".

The plural can be an object pronoun (us, you, them), a possessive pronoun (mine, yours, his, etc.), a demonstrative pronoun (these/those) or determiner (the, my, these, etc.) followed by a noun.

I think I've covered all the pronoun/noun scenarios you've provided. The description seems ok, but I leave it to you to make a single formula out of it!

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Shawn79I think I've covered all the pronoun/noun scenarios you've provided. Yes you did, without a doubt!
The description seems ok, but I leave it to you to make a single formula out of it! Hard work! I can't think of any. I guess I'll leave it as it is, as the one I've posted in my earlier post.

Hi,
Thank you very much for all your replies and help.

TS

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi,
This is how it came out. Of course I have plagiarized 'The plural can be'. That have given me the clue.
Do you agree?

	These are the combinations for ‘Neither of’:
	Neither of	+	plural + singular verb + complement.

	The plural can be:
1.	Neither of	+	the definite article ‘the’ + a plural noun.
2.	Neither of	+	the plural demonstrative adjectives ‘these, those’ + a plural noun.
3.	Neither of	+	the possessive adjectives ‘my, your, his, her, etc.’ + a plural noun.
4.	Neither of	+	the plural object pronouns ‘us, you, them’

Shawn79 · Answer

Thinking SpainThis is how it came out. Of course I have plagiarized 'The plural can be'. That have given me the clue.Do you agree?

Almost. You have the "determiner + noun" covered by 1, 2 & 3. The article and those adjectives are together known as determiners.

As for pronouns, you've covered the object pronouns in 4, but what are missing are the demonstrative pronouns and the possessive pronouns. See my previous post about those. Let me know if I need to clarify.

I can't get an outline to look good here, though it looked perfect in Microsoft Word.

Here's my attempt at describing the structure of "neither of + plural":

“Neither of” + plural + singular verb + complement

The plural can be a/an:

determiner + plural noun

The determiner can be a:
a. definite article: the
b. demonstrative adjective: these, those
c. possessive adjective: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
object pronoun: us, you, them
demonstrative pronoun: these, those
possessive pronoun: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi,
The answers are in blue.
Almost. You have the "determiner + noun" covered by 1, 2 & 3. The article and those adjectives are together known as determiners. Thank you very much. I know it, but my students don't yet. I personally prefer, if that's not very wrong, to tell them about that term later on.
As for pronouns, you've covered the object pronouns in 4, but what are missing are the demonstrative pronouns and the possessive pronouns. See my previous post about those. Let me know if I need to clarify. Yo don't need to clarify anything, your explanations are very, very well done.

The thing is I prefer not to explain all the possibilties at once. Later on, when they are familiar with those ones, I'll tell them the rest. Having said that, does my chart work then? What do you think?

I can't get an outline to look good here, though it looked perfect in Microsoft Word.
If you copy and paste there's no problem. Though as you've said, it looks much better in Microsoft Word. That's how I did mine.

Here's my attempt at describing the structure of "neither of + plural": Excellent, I'll copy and paste it immediately!

“Neither of” + plural + singular verb + complement
The pluralcan be a/an:

determiner + plural noun
The determiner can be a:

a. definite article: the
b. demonstrative adjective: these, those
c. possessive adjective: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
etc.

TS

Shawn79 · Answer

Oh I see. Yes then, yours was great. You can introduce the full chart to them later, or never if they're still not ready.

Thanks for the compliments, glad I could help!

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi,
I don't really have any other comments about this. You've been very helpful, very patient, and very clear with me.
I really appreciate it a lot.

TS

Are these structures correct? (Unit 8)

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