’not ~ and neither’ / ‘not ~ and nor’

Hello, Deepcosmos,

"Neither" and "nor" are conjunctions when they add coordinate clauses, or at the beginning of a sentence that is thus joined with the sentence that precedes it (in this case, they are usually called "conjuncts"). Whey they accompany "and," they are adverbs.

"And neither" and "and nor" are equivalent and it is true that they occur when there is a change of subject in the two main clauses:

2) They couldn't understand it at the time, and nor could we.
3) Tom didn’t believe a word she said, and neither did the police.
6) I don't want to see him go and nor do the fans.
8) I never learned to swim and neither did they.
9) I don't have all the answers and neither do you.

When the subject is the same, nor will form a pair with not (my impression is that "nor" works better than "neither" in this case, that is, I will tend to say (1) and (7) rather than (4)):

1) I don't expect children to be rude, nor do I expect to be disobeyed.
4) The authorities were not sympathetic to the students’ demands, neither would they tolerate any disruption.
7) He doesn't want to live in the country when he grows up, nor does he want to live in the city.

(5) is a special case, because there is an "if"-clause and a main one so, even if there is a change of subject, "neither" is an adverb.

5) If politics did not interest them, neither did they see it as affecting their lives. (If politics did not interest them, they did not see it as affecting their lives either.)

@Gustavo, Co-Moderator posted:

Hello, Deepcosmos,

"Neither" and "nor" are conjunctions when they add coordinate clauses, or at the beginning of a sentence that is thus joined with the sentence that precedes it (in this case, they are usually called "conjuncts"). Whey they accompany "and," they are adverbs.

"And neither" and "and nor" are equivalent and it is true that they occur when there is a change of subject in the two main clauses:

When the subject is the same, nor will form a pair with not (my impression is that "nor" works better than "neither" in this case, that is, I will tend to say (1) and (7) rather than (4)):

1) I don't expect children to be rude, nor do I expect to be disobeyed.
4) The authorities were not sympathetic to the students’ demands, neither would they tolerate any disruption.
7) He doesn't want to live in the country when he grows up, nor does he want to live in the city.

(5) is a special case, because there is an "if"-clause and a main one so, even if there is a change of subject, "neither" is an adverb.

5) If politics did not interest them, neither did they see it as affecting their lives. (If politics did not interest them, they did not see it as affecting their lives either.)

Hi, Gustavo,

Sincerely appreciate your kind explanation.