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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Grammar

Neither of Mary and John has a good job.
Is the sentence correct?
  

Top answer

No. Neither Mary nor John has a good job.

  • No.
  • Neither Mary nor John has a good job.
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7 Answers
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No. Neither Mary nor John has a good job.
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Aspara GusNo. Neither Mary nor John has a good job.
Aspara Gus, what if there are more people in a sentence? Let's say Mary, John and Ken?
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Perfect StrangerAspara Gus, what if there are more people in a sentence? Let's say Mary, John and Ken?
Here’s a usage note from M-W:

Although use with or is neither archaic nor wrong, neither is usually followed by nor. A few commentators think that neither mu
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Thanks for that,

Would we say then: Neither Mary, nor John, nor Ken have a bad job. ? or should it rather be Neither Mary, nor John or Ken have a bad job.

PS I'm also wondering if the commas are placed correctly and if there's a rule for that. What's more, shouldn't the names be followed by the plural form of the verb?
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Perfect StrangerNeither Mary, nor John, nor Ken have a bad job. ? or should it rather be Neither Mary, nor John or Ken have a bad job.
Neither.

Neither Mary nor John nor Ken

or

Neither Mary, John(,) nor Ken
.......ll....................?
.........
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Thank you. And what about the form of the verb that follows those proper nouns?
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Perfect StrangerAnd what about the form of the verb that follows those proper nouns?
I’d use has because neither … nor sounds a little formal to me and plural agreement is informal. But I would have no problem with Neither of them have good jobs (which can only refer to two people, by the way).

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