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Grammar Blooper of the Week: Neither Are
By Elizabeth Vaughan | August 15, 2008
If you have a keen editorial eye, you never have to look far to see bad grammar running wild in the streets. Here at Working Prose, we like to make note of the most instructive or amusing grammar errors we run across and share them with our readers. If you encounter a great example of usage that is more daft than deft, by all means, send it our way.
The Olympic Games are on everybody’s mind these days, and this week’s Grammar Blooper of the Week comes from an article by Chris Chase on Yahoo Sports that investigates the interesting question “why do divers shower immediately after diving?” It turns out it’s to keep their muscles warm, a trick we’re thinking of trying here at Working Prose.
The article states (emphasis added):
Theories have ranged from ‘to get the chlorine off’ to ‘they want to have fun’ — seriously, that last one is a direct quote from NBC’s diving analyst, Cynthia Potter. Neither are the reason.
The error of using a plural verb after the pronouns “either” and “neither” is a fairly common one. This is probably because when we use “either” and “neither,” it seems like we’re referring to two things (“Neither of the two divers was cold after taking a nice, warm shower.”). Gramatically, however, “neither” and “either” function as singular pronouns, a fact that is more apparent in this sentence: “Either Troy or Laura is going to win a gold medal.” Either Troy is or Laura is. No one would say “either Troy are or Laura are.”
A helpful hint for avoiding this error is to mentally insert the word “one” after “either” and “neither.” The word “one” serves as a reminder that these pronouns are singular. Although many make the error of writing “neither of the two divers were cold,” it’s less intuitive to write “neither one of the two were cold.” Because you know that it’s correct to say “one was cold,” you also know to say “neither one was cold.”
Whatever else you do, don’t suggest that divers shower to get the chlorine off, or just for the fun of it. Neither is the reason.
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