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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Do I Use "And" or "Or"?
Hi guys
Which is grammatically correct?
1. "He has not drunk alcohol, smoked or used drugs in over 10 years."
2. "He has not drunk alcohol, smoked and used drugs in over 10 years."
What I mean to convey is that this person has not done any of these three things mentioned in over 10 years. Number 2 doesn't "sound" right, but I assume the conjunction "and" implies that all of these three things have not been done, which is what I'm aiming to convey, so it might be correct. However, I'm unsure. Hence I'm asking this question.
Thanks people!
Which is grammatically correct?
1. "He has not drunk alcohol, smoked or used drugs in over 10 years."
2. "He has not drunk alcohol, smoked and used drugs in over 10 years."
What I mean to convey is that this person has not done any of these three things mentioned in over 10 years. Number 2 doesn't "sound" right, but I assume the conjunction "and" implies that all of these three things have not been done, which is what I'm aiming to convey, so it might be correct. However, I'm unsure. Hence I'm asking this question.
Thanks people!
Top answer
The first one is correct. The second sentence says that he didn`t use cigars and drugs at the same time in over 10 years.
- The first one is correct.
- The second sentence says that he didn`t use cigars and drugs at the same time in over 10 years.
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3 Answers
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The first one is correct. The second sentence says that he didn`t use cigars and drugs at the same time in over 10 years.
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This is a logic question
If you want to cover all three, you use AND
But if you want to cover NOT any of the three, you use OR or NOR
i.e. "He has drunk alcohol, smoked and used drugs in over 10 years." --> He did all three
i.e. "He has not drunk alcohol, smoked nor used drugs in over 10 years." --> He did none of the three
i.e. "He
If you want to cover all three, you use AND
But if you want to cover NOT any of the three, you use OR or NOR
i.e. "He has drunk alcohol, smoked and used drugs in over 10 years." --> He did all three
i.e. "He has not drunk alcohol, smoked nor used drugs in over 10 years." --> He did none of the three
i.e. "He
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Hi.
I think using 'and' here makes the sentence sound less natural. I think using 'or', even while emphasizing on all the three(smoking,drinking,drugs) will be correct. Moreover, using 'and' might make the reader misinterpret by missing out the 'not'. So I think 'or' is the best in this context.
Regards
Prajwal
I think using 'and' here makes the sentence sound less natural. I think using 'or', even while emphasizing on all the three(smoking,drinking,drugs) will be correct. Moreover, using 'and' might make the reader misinterpret by missing out the 'not'. So I think 'or' is the best in this context.
Regards
Prajwal
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