Both (of)/ either/ neither

BOTH is used in affirmative sentences, to emphasize two objects or individuals as a whole unit. BOTH is used with a plural verb.

EITHER is used in affirmative sentences, to emphasize any of two persons or things; it may also mean ‘each of two.’

NEITHER is used to express negation, in the meaning ‘оба нет.’ NEITHER is used with a singular verb.

Exercise 24. Translate the following sentences into English, paying attention to the use of both and neither and the verb forms.

1. Их обоих приняли в университет.

2. Они оба окончили университет с отличием.

3. Они оба не согласны с вами.

4. Они оба больше не живут по этому адресу.

5. Они оба не любят современную музыку.

6. Мы оба не одобряем ваш стиль жизни.

7. Они оба сомневаются в этом.

8. Они оба отказались от премии.

9. Их обоих не исключили из университета.

10. Вы оба не знаете это правило.

11. Они оба пришли вовремя.

12. Мы оба не знали, что делать.

13. Мы оба растерялись.

14. Вы оба не видели этот фильм?

15. Они оба не могли понять ни слова.

Exercise 25. Fill in either or neither.

1. Rina was sleeping soundly, her dolls, Susie and Mary, on .......side of her.

2. At the front there were four windows, two on .......side of the door.

3. The sound they heard then made both of them start slightly, though ....... observed it in the other.

4. They each had a large cup of something called coffee, which looked like tea and didn’t taste particu­larly like ....... .

5. He wanted to read something and told her to stop talking: she did not know whether to obey or to get angry, and was so puzzled that she did ....... .

6. On .......side of the stage the candles burned steadily in gently ascending lines.

7. Tom and Nick both shuddered at the thought of meeting a wolf in the forest. But ....... said a word.

8. He followed her into the front room, where Helen and Matthew were sitting stiffly on ....... side of the fireplace with its big overmantel mirror.

9. Young Jolyon put his hand on his father’s shoulder, and, as ....... spoke, the episode closed.

10. On ....... side of the road were sand dunes that offered to cover. (J.H. Chase)

11. Both the pilots were in. But ....... of them heard the stewardess enter.

12. Then, carrying a valise in ....... hand, he stepped out on to the landing. (John Galsworthy)

13. I stepped into a narrow passage: at ....... end were doors. (J.H. Chase)

14. ‘I guess’, I said finally, ‘that ....... of us quite knows how we want it.’ (Robert B. Parker)

15. At eleven, two white men, ....... of them Melvin, both about his age, came out of the house and walked up the street a ways to a black Porsche Boxster parked away from the streetlight. (Robert B. Parker)

16. There were gray stone walls on ....... hand, sheep huddled together in the rain. (Jack Higgins)

Exercise 26. Insert either, neither or both.

1. They ....... laughed and Dan looked down at his desk.

2. We were ....... in the room, but ....... of us spoke for some time.

3. Hatton entered the room, and he looked at her and hesitated, and then took the open book in ....... his hands and came to her side.

4. On ....... side the fields were beneficently tranquil. (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

5. ‘Have you been listening at the door, Edgar?’ asked the mistress, in a tone particularly calculated to provoke her husband, implying ....... carelessness and contempt of his irritation. (E. Bronte)

6. I guess we’re ....... a little bit overtired.

7. The poured concrete urns on ....... side of the front door were planted with perennials that had died back to sticks. (S. Grafton)

8. He looked from Singer to Philip, but ....... answered.

9. They are ....... in custody. (Terry McMillan)

10. Hatton took ....... the plates in one hand, and Nevill’s hand in the other, and led the way from the room.

11. She expected men to talk about football and racing, and Philip knew nothing of ....... .

12. They were ....... running hard, but someone was ahead of them.

13. He spent a restless and un­settled vacation, quite out of touch with ....... of his two sisters.

14. ....... of the two women, perhaps, could have said why they were stopped in mid-argument.

15. I used to draw a comparison between him and Hindley Earnshaw, and perplex myself to explain satisfactorily why their conduct was so opposite in similar circumstances. They had ....... been fond husbands, and were ....... attached to their children and I could not see how they shouldn’t both have taken the same road, for good or evil. (E. Bronte)

16. Soames added: Well, I hope you’ll ....... enjoy yourselves.

17. Two matching sofas were arranged on ....... side of the marble fireplace. (S. Grafton)

18. Papa says you are a wicked man, and you hate ....... him and me; and Ellen says the same. (E. Bronte)

19. There isn’t any beginning, at least there isn’t any insanity in the family that I know of, at least on ....... side. (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

20. She said he had only been twice, on horseback, accompanying his father; and ....... times he pretended to be quite knocked up for three or four days afterwards. (E. Bronte)

Exercise 27. If necessary, correct these sentences. Pay attention to the use of pronouns all (of), the whole (of), both (of), either, neither.

1. All the children didn’t come.

2. Many, if none of the students, could speak English fluently.

3. Almost all his spare time is spent working in the garden.

4. Both of us didn’t speak again until we had reached home.

5. Everything depends on the last match of the football season.

6. Mrs. Lee and Mr. Pointer, them both teachers, are standing as candidates in the next election.

7. Many people suffer side-effects from taking the drug. However, these not all are bad.

8. I’m afraid neither answer is correct. Try again.

9. All at the meeting voted for Terry.

10. Either the room and its occupants and the scene they gazed on, looked wondrously peaceful. (E. Bronte)

11. Miss Catherine seemed almost over fond of Mr. Linton; and even to his sister, she showed plenty of affection. They were all very attentive to her comfort, certainly. (E. Bronte)

12. He saw I knew naught about it, and he told how a gentleman and lady had stopped to have a horse’s shoe fastened at a blacksmith’s shop, two miles out of Gimmerton, not very long after midnight. And how the blacksmith’s lass had got up to spy who they were: she knew them neither directly. (E. Bronte)

13. The land on neither side of the highway was flat, with white sand creeping up to the edges of the road. (S. Grafton)

14. I observed several splashes of blood about the bark of the tree, and his hand and forehead were both stained. (E. Bronte)

15. I was in my Sonya Burke getup, sitting with both feet on the floor, my knees demurely pressed together. (Robert B. Parker)

Exercise 28. Translate the sentences into English. Pay attention to the use of the pro­nouns both, either, neither, all.

1. Попросите их всех прийти вовремя.

2. Мы с мамой обе оста­лись здесь ждать старшего брата.

3. Оба мальчика были высокие.

4. Она видела, как он выходил из дома с чемоданом в каждой руке.

5. Оба ехали молча или обсуждали такие вещи, которые не интересо­вали ни того ни другого.

6. Когда она наклонила голову, ее темные волосы упали по обе стороны лица.

7. Они оба стояли неподвижно.

8. Она посмотрела вокруг и увидела, что по обеим сторонам дороги были прекрасные современные высокие дома.

9. Она спросила Джона и Джека, где они так долго были. Ни тот, ни другой ничего не ответили.

10. ‘Они все для меня одинаковы’, – сказал Филипп.

11. Оба мальчика тяжело дышали.

12. ‘Почему вы все спустились вниз?’ – спросил мой отец.

13. Мы оба засмеялись и расстались друзьями.

14. ‘Бабушка, мы все здесь’, – сказала Люси тихо.

15. ‘Вы боитесь темноты или собаки?’ – ‘Я не боюсь ни того ни другого’.

16. Надеюсь, что мы все будем выполнять свой долг.

17. Он разглядывал меня, а я разглядывала его, и ни тот ни другой ничего не говорили.

18. Мальчики с обеих сторон поддерживали пожилого человека, когда переходили улицу.

19. Вы оба должны приехать к нам и провести у нас вечер.

20. Их обоих просто не узнать – они так изменились.