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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Neither...nor

She didn't return that night, nor the night after. - She neither returned that, nor the night after.
I can't eat nor sleep. - I can neither eat nor sleep.
I can't confirm nor deny. - I can neither confirm nor deny.

Are the second sentences correct?

Farewell.
  

Top answer

These are right: She didn't return that night or the night after. She returned neither that night nor the night/one after. I can't eat or sleep.

  • These are right: She didn't return that night or the night after.
  • She returned neither that night nor the night/one after.
  • I can't eat or sleep.
  • I can neither eat nor sleep.
  • I can't confirm or deny.
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21 Answers
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These are right:

She didn't return that night or the night after.
She returned neither that night nor the night/one after.
I can't eat or sleep.
I can neither eat nor sleep.
I can't confirm or deny.
I can neither confirm nor deny.
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I thought I could use nor after a negative statement when adding another negative statement. As in:

She didn't return that night, nor the night after. - Why do you prefer 'or' in such cases? Here's what I've read about 'nor':
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Oops. Epic fail.

Are the following sentences correct?

Neither his son nor his daughter nor his mother were at the funeral.
I can't eat or sleep or walk.
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You know I died, right? And Boonie used magic to bring me back to life. Ever since I came back I've been seeing things I shouldn't be seeing.

Would the last sentence make sense if I omitted the 'shouldn't be seeing' and added 'shouldn't see'? And what's the difference between them in this case?
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Yes, somewhere I read that more than two like that are in (accepted) use.
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I can't eat or sleep or walk. - Does this sentence sound natural? It does, to my ear.

I can neither eat nor sleep.
I can't eat or sleep.

The meaning is the same. But, is the first one more formal? What's the difference?
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Neither...nor is the more formal correlative conjunction in my book.
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Will you tell me what the difference is between I have just and I just? As in: I've just eaten. and I just ate.
I've noticed that my friends that are from the UK use present perfect much more than people from the USA. I tend to use I just + past simple. Is the first one more formal? :?
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The difference is the same as for almost any simple past vs present perfect use. See CJ's comments here:
AnonymousI've noticed that my friends that are from the UK use present perfect much more than people from the USA. I tend to use I just + past simple. Is the first one more formal?
You have no

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