Grammar Tip 22: Neither.....Nor

1. Neither/nor is a negative way of saying 'both':

Neither wine nor beer has fallen in price.
Neither phone calls nor emails were answered.

In order to use 'both' here, the verbs would have to be changed:

Both wine and beer have gone up in price.
Both phone calls and emails went unanswered.

2. Neither/nor usually covers two things; but reference to more than two things is also possible:

Neither the government, nor the judiciary, nor the administration is allowed to exceed its powers.

In this sentence, the first 'nor' could be removed. Note the commas here.

3. Neither takes both singular and plural verbs. For items in the singular, a singular verb is used:

Neither wine nor beer has fallen in price.

For plural items, use a plural verb:

Neither phone calls nor emails were answered.

If the items are both singular and plural, use a plural verb if the second (or last) item is plural:

Neither the President nor his representatives are to attend the meeting.

But if the second item is singular and the previous one is plural, use either singular or plural verb:

Neither the drivers nor the cyclist is/are to blame for the accident.