102
13.9 both … and, either … or These expressions are frequently confused, thus leading to ambiguity for the reader.
Both … and is inclusive.
2.
Either … or is exclusive. You cannot use
either in both parts.
3.
Both is only used with
not when used to contrast.
4.
Not … either .. . or indicates that none of the options are available.
5. The position of the preposition changes the meaning.
YES NO 1 We can go to
both Iran
and Jordon.
We can gob eitherb Iran either Jordon We will visit two places.
2 We can go to
either Iran
or Jordon. We can gob orb to Iran
or Jordon. We can only visit one of the two alternatives.
3 We cab ntb go to
both Iran and Jordon, but only to Iran. We only have one choice.
4 We cab ntb gob eitherb to Iran
or Jordon. We cab ntb gob neitherb to Iran
nor Jordon. We cannot visit these two places.
5
We had fun in both the parks we visited and also the museums. We visited two parks. We had fun
both in the parks and the museums. We visited an undisclosed number of parks and museums.
