I don't want either A or B

[boggiee]

Hi,

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/60840/neither-and-either-usage-in-negative-sentence

But I would not use:

I don't want either A or B.

"I don't want either..." sounds more acceptable with more than two elements, as opposed to justtwo elements, which is why I oped to include it among the possibilities here, but recommended against its use in the previous example.

I am confused about the person's comment. I think we can say ' I don't want either A or B', is that right?

 

[PaulQ]

I can't agree with, "I don't want either..." sounds more acceptable with more than two elements, " "Either' indicates a choice of two. If you have more than two, you would have to say "I don't want A, B, etc., or Z.

"I don't want either A or B" is fine:

A: "Which do you want? A rusty fork in your eye or a pineapple shoved down your throat?"

B: "I don't want either a rusty fork in my eye or a pineapple shoved down my throat, thank you." / or simply, "I don't want either."

 

[e2efour]

I agree with PaulQ.
One person in that forum rejects I don't want either A or B, giving the curious reason That's what neither is for.

 

[Parla]

That person is wrong, and you're right. (I don't know what his or her qualifications are; the profile in that forum says only that the person is from the US. He or she certainly doesn't speak for AE.)

 

[Giorgio Spizzi]

Hullo.

If one looks superficially at the morphology of "n-either", one may be tempted to think that neither is the negative form of either.
"Neither" is not just "either" with a negative prefix. In reality, neither comes from Old English "naahwæther", neither, a compound formed from naa, "not", and hwæther, "which of two" (the ancestor of present-day English "whether"). Towards the end of the OE period it was contracted to nawther, and in Middle English, this became—under the influence of "either"—neither.

GS

 

[Thomas Tompion]

I think you can say any of these:

I don't want either - the choice has clearly been presented to you.

I don't want either A or B - suggests that there's some C which you may be about to specify.

I want neither - sounds pretty curt.

I want neither A nor B - sounds rather literary. I wouldn't naturally say it.

I disagree strongly with the person in the other forum who says that I don't want either A, B, C,... is a suitable use of I don't want either. For me it would have to be I don't want any of A, B, C,...

I think either normally refers to one of two specified items.

 

[taraa]

I can't agree with, "I don't want either..." sounds more acceptable with more than two elements, " "Either' indicates a choice of two. If you have more than two, you would have to say "I don't want A, B, etc., or Z.

"I don't want either A or B" is fine:

A: "Which do you want? A rusty fork in your eye or a pineapple shoved down your throat?"

B: "I don't want either a rusty fork in my eye or a pineapple shoved down my throat, thank you." / or simply, "I don't want either."

Is "" like "I don't want A and I don't want B too" or "I one of A or B, I want both A and B", please?

 

[Thomas Tompion]

Is "" like "I don't want A and I don't want B too" or "I one of A or B, I want both A and B", please?

I think this needs sorting, Taraa. I don't know what you are asking.

 

[taraa]

I think this needs sorting, Taraa. I don't know what you are asking.

Oh, sorry. I asked:
Is "I don't want either A or B" like "I don't want A and I don't want B too" or "I don't want only one of A or B, I want both A and B", please?

 

[TGW]

How about’ I don’t want A, nor B’?

 

[taraa]

How about’ I don’t want A, nor B’?

Yes, I know that's correct. Thank you.

 

[tunaafi]

Is "I don't want either A or B" like "I don't want A and I don't want B too" or "I don't want only one of A or B, I want both A and B", please?

That would normally mean: I don't want A and I don't want B. I want neither A nor B.
You could give the other meaning in speech by stressing the or' and adding what you did want: I don't want (either) A or B; I want A and B.

 

[taraa]

That would normally mean: I don't want A and I don't want B. I want neither A nor B.
You could give the other meaning in speech by stressing the or' and adding what you did want: I don't want (either) A or B; I want A and B.

Interesting, many thanks for the good explanation.

 

[lingobingo]

How about’ I don’t want A, nor B’?

Yes, I know that's correct.

But it’s not correct. It’s a double negative. You can only use the negative nor if you put it in a separate sentence or clause.
I don’t want A or B.
I don’t want A. Nor do I want B.

 

[taraa]

But it’s not correct. It’s a double negative. You can only use the negative nor if you put it in a separate sentence or clause.
I don’t want A or B.
I don’t want A. Nor do I want B.

Aha, many thanks, lingobingo for the good point.