Either/Neither

muse · Nov 21, 2015

Need help with a sentence.

I know the rule either/or and neither/nor, but I'm not a 100% sure which I should use in the sentence below:

‘Being alone isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a person, son.’ But Sara knew he didn’t understand, either had she until a moment ago.

cornflake · Nov 21, 2015

Neither, and that looks like a comma splice to me.

Maryn · Nov 21, 2015

Amen. I'd write ‘Being alone isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a person, son.’ But Sara knew he didn’t understand. Neither had she until a moment ago.

ironmikezero · Nov 21, 2015

Agree with cornflake . . . neither. I'd use a semicolon rather than a comma.

King Neptune · Nov 21, 2015

muse said:
Need help with a sentence.

I know the rule either/or and neither/nor, but I'm not a 100% sure which I should use in the sentence below:

‘Being alone isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a person, son.’ But Sara knew he didn’t understand, either had she until a moment ago.

I'm a little more radical:
‘Being alone isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a person, son.’ But Sara knew he didn’t understand, because neither had she until a moment ago.
or
...because, until a moment ago, she hadn't either.

muse · Nov 21, 2015

Thanks for the quick response everyone. I will go with 'neither'. (And a full stop :greenie

)

As for comma splices... I know I shouldn't use them, but somehow the pesky things keep showing up in my work.

*sharpens scythe to wade through WIP*

Jamesaritchie · Nov 21, 2015

This one is pretty obvious, even if you don't know the rule. It's neither. Use a conjunction, if you want to keep it as one sentence. A period, if you want two sentences.

muse · Nov 21, 2015

Jamesaritchie said:
This one is pretty obvious, even if you don't know the rule. It's neither. Use a conjunction, if you want to keep it as one sentence. A period, if you want two sentences.

It's only obvious (pretty or otherwise) if you know how. I didn't (obviously) ergo the question. :greenie

But thank you for answering.

As for conjunction/period... I thought the rhythm of the sentence warrented a conjunction, but I kinda like Maryn's take:

But Sara knew he didn’t understand. Neither had she until a moment ago.

Sage · Nov 21, 2015

The trick to figuring it out is the "not." Because the first half is a negative statement, the equivalent has to be negative as well.

He did not understand.

Your choices are:

Neither had she until a moment ago.

She hadn't either until a moment ago.

muse · Nov 23, 2015

Sage said:
The trick to figuring it out is the "not." Because the first half is a negative statement, the equivalent has to be negative as well.

He did not understand.

Your choices are:

Neither had she until a moment ago.

She hadn't either until a moment ago.

Thanks, Sage. That makes perfect sense.

Either/Neither

muse

standing on head, typing one-handed...

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

Maryn

At Sea

ironmikezero

practical experience, FTW

King Neptune

muse

standing on head, typing one-handed...

Jamesaritchie

muse

standing on head, typing one-handed...

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

muse

standing on head, typing one-handed...