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當使用 "either...or..." 或 "neither...nor..." 作為句子的開頭，有一點我們必須注意：

"either (subject 1) or (subject 2)" 或 "neither (subject 1) nor (subject 2)" 隨後的動詞必須與 subject 2 相符。舉例說：

不是你去洗碗，就是我去。

Either you or I am going to do the washing-up.  (correct)

Either you or I are going to do the washing-up.  (wrong!)

不是你弄得這麼亂，就是他。

Either you or he is responsible for this mess.  (correct)

Either you or he are responsible for this mess.  (wrong!)

他和我都不懂西班牙文。Neither he nor I speak Spanish. 

她和你都無罪。 Neither she...

當使用 "either...or..." 或 "neither...nor..." 作為句子的開頭，有一點我們必須注意：

"either (subject 1) or (subject 2)" 或 "neither (subject 1) nor (subject 2)" 隨後的動詞必須與 subject 2 相符。舉例說：

不是你去洗碗，就是我去。

Either you or I am going to do the washing-up.  (correct)

Either you or I are going to do the washing-up.  (wrong!)

不是你弄得這麼亂，就是他。

Either you or he is responsible for this mess.  (correct)

Either you or he are responsible for this mess.  (wrong!)

他和我都不懂西班牙文。Neither he nor I speak Spanish. 

她和你都無罪。 Neither she nor you are guilty of the offence.

neither ... nor ...說明︰此句型意為“既非…也非…”。

Neither he nor I was able to understand her. 既不是我也不是他能夠了解她。

Neither you nor I am wrong.你也好，我也好，都沒錯。

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either ... or ...說明︰此句型意為“要不…就是…”。

Either you or he has made the mistake.不是你，就是他弄錯了。

Either he or I am to blame.不是他就是我該受責備。

Either you are wrong, or I am.不是你錯，就是我錯了。

精修

You may either eat the apple or the orange. (wrong)

上面句子的寫法有問題嗎？有問題；那麼問題出在何處？

句子的原意是要表明兩種水果之間的選擇﹣你可以吃蘋果或柳橙﹣而非兩種行動之間的選擇。所以，正確的寫法應該是：

You may eat either the apple or the orange.

換句話講，"eat" 應該放在 "either" 之前。

再參考另一個例子：

You may eat either the apple or drink the orange juice. (wrong)

現在錯處應該很明顯。這句子要表明的是兩種行動之間的選擇﹣吃蘋果或喝橙汁﹣而不是兩種食物或飲品之間的選擇。所以，正確的寫法是：

You may either eat the apple or drink the orange juice.

換句話講，"eat" 應該放在 "either" 之後。

看看下面的例句：

You can buy her either a doll or a bouquet of flowers. (correct)

You can either buy her a doll or a bouquet of flowers. (wrong!) 

I eat neither durians nor "stinky tofu". (correct)  

I neither eat durians nor "stinky tofu". (wrong!)   

You and Paul can swim either in the pool or in the sea.  (correct)

You and Paul can either swim in the pool or in the sea.  (wrong!)