either of you

Question

Hi,"There is one way for either of you to survive."Does this "either of" mean "both of" or "at least one of"?I think it can be taken either way, but I'd like to be sure.

Yoong Liat · Accepted Answer

either of you refers to one of two people.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, Yoong Liat.
So if doing in that way, only one of them can survive and the other one will die?

Here is what I was thinking.

"Do either of you smoke?"
This person asks if at least one of them smoke.
That is, the answer can be, "Both of us smoke!"

"There are no simple answers to either of those questions."
This statement means both questions are difficult to answer or have difficulties to deal with.

So I thought the first example can be paraphrased as:
"There is one way that one of you can survive at least, (and if lucky, both of you will survive,)" and/or "There is one way to save you both from dying."

Is this not correct?

Fivejedjon · Answer

Rino Hi,"There is one way for either of you to survive."Does this "either of" mean "both of" or "at least one of"?I think it can be taken either way, but I'd like to be sure.

It's sloppily written; it could be taken both ways.

Anonymous · Answer

fivejedjonIt's sloppily written; it could be taken both ways.

That's what I wanted to know!
Thank you, fivejedjon!

either of you

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions