Either and Neither

Learn how “either” is used in the following sentences.

1. I haven’t been to Delhi. I haven’t been to Calcutta, either.
2. My brother doesn’t read newspapers. He doesn’t listen to the news, either.
3. I can’t do it. You can’t, either.
4. She didn’t come yesterday. He didn’t, either.
5. They weren’t present. I wasn’t, either.

Negative additions to negative remarks can be made by using “neither” or “nor” and “either.”

I didn’t come yesterday.	Neither did I.
The boy hasn’t come.	The girl hasn’t, either.
I don’t care much for that fellow.	Nor do I/I don’t, either.
He won’t tell anyone else.	Nor will we.
He doesn’t speak French.	Neither do I.

Practise the following first with “neither/nor” and then with “either.”

We don’t often go to films.	Neither/Nor do we.	We don’t, either.
She hasn’t had her lunch.	Neither/Nor have I.	I haven’t, either.
He has never been to Delhi.	Neither/Nor has she.	She hasn’t, either.
I am not going to bed yet.	Neither/Nor are we.	We aren’t, either.
I can’t eat beef.	Neither/Nor can I.	I can’t, either.
She isn’t leaving tomorrow.	Neither/Nor are they.	They aren’t, either.
She won’t pay for it.	Neither/Nor will we.	We won’t, either.
They aren’t teachers.	Neither/Nor are we.	We aren’t, either.

Positive answers to positive remarks

Affirmative (or positive) additions to affirmative remarks can be made by using the appropriate auxiliary (are, is, am, do, have, can, must, etc.) with “too” or “so.”

“I believe him.” “We do, too.”
“They are studying.” “So are we.”
“The neighbours have come.” “So have my friends.”
“John came yesterday.” “I did, too.”
“Arun had left by that time.” “So had we.”
“The headmaster will be here tomorrow.” “So will the teachers.”
“She must go home now.” “I must, too.”
“I can play chess.” “So can we.”

Pay attention to the tense and choose you auxiliary accordingly. If it is present tense, use “do”; if past tense, use “did”; if present perfect, use “have,” and if past perfect, use “had.” Do not forget to insert a comma before “too.”

Practice the following first with “too” and then with “so.”

I stopped going to class.	We did, too.	So did we.
She is leaving.	I am, too.	So am I.
They will be at the meeting.	We will, too.	So will we.
I have written to him.	We have, too.	So have we.
He is a carpenter.	John is, too.	So is John.
He will speak to the boss.	They will, too.	So will they.
I ought to go there.	We ought to, too.	So ought we.
They have bought a car.	We have, too.	So have we.

Do or does?

“Do you play soccer?”
“Do you and your brother play soccer?”
“Do your friends play soccer?”
“Does your brother play soccer?”
“Does John play soccer?”

It is clear from the above sentences that you use “does” only when you are talking about someone other than the person you are talking to (you), or when you are talking about more than one person (you and your friends, your friends). So, use “do” when the subject is “you” or if it is plural. Use “does” when the subject is singular and not “you” or “I.”

	Singular	Plural	Use
First Person	I	We	Do
Second person	You	You	Do
Third person		They	Do
Third person	He, She, It		Does

Tensed about tenses?

It is common for every student of the English language to get cold feet at the mention of tenses. Tenses are important as they tell us if a particular action always happens, is happening, will be happening, etc. Pay attention to “when” the action happens, and you would master tenses in no time!

Let’s take the verb “drink.”

Suppose your colleague walks into your room and remarks that you drink too much coffee. If you habitually drink two cups of coffee everyday, you would say, “I drink two cups of coffee everyday.” (Simple Present)

At that moment, your phone rings. It’s your mother asking what you are doing at the moment. You would say, “I am drinking coffee.”(Present continuous)

Later, your secretary wants to know why there is no coffee in the flask. You would say, “I have drunk the whole flask of coffee.”(Present perfect)

Your secretary remarks that you should stop drinking coffee. You would say, “I have been drinking coffee all my life. I can’t give up coffee.” (Present perfect continuous)

The secretary wants to know what happened to the bottle of wine that was a gift from your business partner. You would say, “I drank some of it and took the rest home.” (Simple Past)

Now, your secretary wants to know what you were doing when your mother called. You would say, “I was drinking coffee.” (Past continuous)

Your other colleague walks in and says, “Hey, why didn’t you call me when you had your coffee-break?” You say, “You came in late today. I had drunk all the coffee by the time you arrived.” (Past perfect)

You ask him why he is late and he says, “I had been drinking lemonade when my little daughter came running to give me a hug, and I spilled lemonade all over my shirt. I had to wash and change again.” (Past perfect continuous)

You remind him of the office party that evening. Your colleague says, “I will drink like a fish at the party.” (Simple Future)

You tell him that no drinks will be served in the party and so, “No one will be drinking this evening.” (Future continuous)

The secretary says that there is a huge supply of soft drinks in the pantry. Your colleague says, “I bet people will have already drunk all of it.” (Future perfect)

Boost your confidence

In my stint as a spoken English tutor, I have often come across many students, who could write reasonably well in English, but wouldn’t speak the language. They had learnt English as a language in school for almost ten years, and yet, they would be petrified to speak the language! Only one thing was stopping them from speaking English – lack of confidence.

You need confidence to do just about anything in this world. It may be something as trivial as fixing a leaking tap or something as significant as launching a satellite. Speaking a new language is not going to be easy, but it is not a very difficult task either (believe me; I know what I went through when trying to speak Hindi.)

1. Read English newspapers or books aloud for half an hour every day. This practice would help your mouth and tongue to get used to the language. (Tip: Try reading news articles that you have some knowledge about. For example, if you love sports, read the sports section first, and then move on to the other sections.)

2. Talk to your friends and family in English. If you are shy about that, try talking in front of the mirror; look into your eyes when you are doing so.

3. Listen to news, commentaries, or any programs that are telecast in English.

4. Movie channels like HBO, Star Movies, etc. telecast movies subtitled in English every day at 9pm (IST). Watch these movies and try to follow what the actors are saying; the subtitles are there to help you. (Don’t worry about inappropriate content, as these movies are modified to suit Indian audience.)

5. Write a short description of yourself or a pen, an animal, etc. and read aloud what you have written.

Summary of “Things-to-remember for effective communication”

The following principles are relevant to all media but they are most important to written communication.

Principles of communication
1. Clarity
2. Completeness
3. Conciseness
4. Consideration
5. Courtesy
6. Correctness

Clarity of thought comes from a careful consideration of the objective, content, and medium of communication. For clarity of expression,
• Use simple easy-to-understand words,
• Use concrete expressions that have a visual impact on the min and will
be easy to remember,
• Prefer active constructions, which are direct,
• Avoid infinitives (to-verbs), for they make writing indirect and
impersonal,
• Avoid jargon, for it makes writing tedious and obscure,
• Avoid ambiguity by placing the words correctly and using correct marks
of punctuation,
• Write very short sentences.

For completeness,
• See if you have answered all the queries posed in the letter,
• Check for ‘5 W’ questions-who, what, where, when, and why.

For conciseness,
• Only relevant facts,
• No repetition of information,
• No verbosity, proper organisation of the message.

Consideration implies respect for the reader’s point of view. For consideration,
• Adopt the you-attitude in your language,
• Emphasise positive, pleasant facts,
• Write only what you sincerely feel to be correct.

Courtesy begets courtesy, so make your message courteous. For ensuring courtesy,
• Answer/acknowledge the letter promptly,
• Do not use any irritating/offensive expression,
• Apologize sincerely for any omission,
• Thank profusely for any favors.

Correctness implies,
•Giving correct facts at an appropriate time in a suitable style.

Things-to-remember for effective communication (Part 5)

In business, we must create friendliness with all those to whom we write. Friendliness is inseparable from courtesy. And courtesy demands a considerate and friendly behavior towards others. The following principles help promote courtesy.

a. Answer the letters promptly. In business, it is a general practice to answer a letter the same day it is received. Sometimes, you might need a back reference, or may have to refer to different departments for clarification of certain points or may need the consent of higher authorities. In all these cases, you should at least acknowledge the letter received and intimate the probable time you require to send a full reply.

b. Omit irritating expressions. Some words and expressions are negative in connotation and irritate the reader. Particularly, when used with ‘you’, they become provocative. Expressions like ‘you forgot’, ‘you failed’, ‘your irresponsible approach’ are bound to irritate or hurt the reader; so, scrupulously avoid them. Some other such expressions are:
You are probably ignorant/unaware
You neglected/ignored/overlooked/disregarded
Inexcusable/irresponsible/odious/obnoxious
We disagree with you/we do not believe/you leave us no choice, etc.

c. Apologize sincerely for an omission/thank generously for a favor. If you have overlooked or failed to do something, express your regrets promptly and sincerely and make up for the omission at the earliest. If omission is on part of someone else and he regrets it, promptly tell him that you do not mind and a sort of normalcy is restored. If someone does a favor to you, acknowledge it promptly and thank the person generously for bring kind to you.

d. Give correct facts. Business communication often leads to expensive operations. So you should be sure that you are using correct facts and expressing them in correct language. In fact, you should not transmit any message unless you are absolutely sure of its correctness. If your message involves any legal matter, you should know the correct legal position before you commit anything.

e. Send your message at the correct time. All messages must be transmitted and responded to at the most appropriate time. Outdated information is useless. The principle of correct timing stipulates that you communicate your message at a time when it is likely to prove most effective.

f. Send your message in the correct style. This may also be described as the principle of adaptability. You must adapt your message to the needs of the receiver. You must keep before his educational background, the width of his vocabulary, specialized knowledge of the subject, his psychological make-up etc. If he is a layman, all jargon must be excluded and facts must be explained in a simple language. If he is an expert in the subject, you may perhaps go into the subtleties of the issue. While adapting your message to the needs of the receiver, you must so change it that you preserve its factual as well as emotional content.