[Grammar] She is not old or ugly either.

[kadioguy]

[My sentences]

a. She is not old and not ugly.
b. She is not old or/nor ugly.
c. She is not old, nor ugly. [Not She is not old, or ugly]
d. She is not old or ugly either. [Not She is not either old or ugly]
e. She is neither old nor ugly.

f. He cannot read or/nor write.
g. He cannot read, nor write. [Not He cannot read, or write]
h. He cannot either read or write. [Not He cannot read or write either]
i. He can neither read nor write.
---
Are all okay?

 

[5jj]

I have faded out some of your questions kadioguy. There were far too many for members to deal with in one thread.

 

[kadioguy]

Think again.

It seemed they were many, but I thought that only D (including the not part) was questionable.

 

[5jj]

I thought that only D (including the not part) was questionable.

Do you mean incorrect? If so, tell us in what way.

 

[kadioguy]

Do you mean incorrect? If so, tell us in what way.

d. She is not old or ugly either. [Not She is not either old or ugly]
----
d' She is not either old or ugly.
d'' Tom cannot either read or write.

I'm not sure why d' could be incorrect while d'' couldn't. (Because of the be and auxiliary verb?)

PS I'm afraid that you called me a wrong name in post #2. :roll:

 

[Tarheel]

She is not old and not ugly.

OK.

She is not old or ugly.

OK.

She is not old, and she's not ugly.

OK.

She is neither old nor ugly.

OK.

In a couple of places I made changes to the original.

 

[5jj]

I'm afraid that you called me a wrong name in post #2.

Sorry. I have corrected the error.

 

[Tarheel]

She is neither old nor ugly.

Tom can neither read nor write.

He can neither run nor walk.

He can neither laugh nor cry.

He can do neither one.

 

[kadioguy]

Could you please tell me what you think about my thoughts in post #5?

 

[Tarheel]

She is not old or ugly either.

I don't like that one much, but I can't say why.

 

[Tarheel]

She is not either old or ugly.

This is, I believe, a grammatical sentence. I also don't think you saw it anywhere. I believe you made it up.

Tom cannot either read or write.

I am not a linguist, but I believe things may have started out like those two sentences and evolved into the neither, nor form. (It's just conjecture.)

 

[kadioguy]

d. She is not old or ugly either. [Not She is not either old or ugly]
----
d' She is not either old or ugly.
d'' Tom cannot either read or write.

I'm not sure why d' could be incorrect while d'' couldn't. (Because of the be and auxiliary verb?)

She is not old or ugly either.

She is not either old or ugly.

Tom cannot either read or write.

Tom cannot read or write either.
---
Thank you all. After thinking twice, I now assume that the four are all correct. Is that right?

 

[Tarheel]

They might very well be grammatically correct, but would I ever use any of them? (Not likely.) Indeed, while my preference is "She is neither old nor ugly" I hope I don't find myself using that in conversation. (See below.)

Bob: She's old and ugly.
Ron: She's not old, and she's not ugly either.
Bob: Well, you have the right to your opinion.
Ron: And you have the right to yours, but stop talking about my mother that way.