So, neither and either

How to express agreement and disagreement?

In this lesson, we are going to discuss about how to express agreement and disagreement, those words or expressions to use in English are sometimes confused, and questions come to your mind. When I have to use so, neither and either? I am agreeing or disagreeing about something.

Sometimes this happens because you are not sure of which words to use to agree or disagree.

Phrases such as “So do I” and “Neither do I” are used as responses that show your similar attitude, action or state compared to what other person said.

Have a look at some of useful phrases.:

So,

Response to the affirmative phrase:

We can use ‘so’ to mean ‘in addition’.

Examples:

1) I am a student. So am I.

I'm a student. - Me neither.

2) I like oranges. - So do I.

I love oranges. - Me neither.

3) I feel terrible. - So do I.

I feel awful. - Me neither.

Structure:

The structure here is [so + auxiliary verb + subject].

– I love math.

– So do I (=I also love math).

Neither,

Response to the negative phrase:

He hasn´t got time. Neither have I.

• I haven’t seen Robert today.

• I haven’t (seen him) either. / Neither have I.

We can express, also the same idea with ‘neither’. The word order is inverted after ‘neither’:

• She doesn’t like basketball and neither does she like football.

• She can’t dance and neither can she sing.

We can also express the same idea with ‘neither… nor’:

• She likes neither basketball nor football.

• She can neither dance nor sing.

Structure:

The structure here is [neither + auxiliary verb + subject].

• My sister doesn’t like football and neither does my brother.

Either,

‘Either‘ has the same meaning as ‘too‘ but it’s used in negative sentences — ‘not… either’ — at the end of a sentence:

• My sister doesn’t like basketball and she doesn’t like football either.

• She can’t dance and she can’t sing either.

• I didn’t like the movie either.

So, in spoken English we can use different expressions, example:

I can’t read fast.

• I can’t read fast either.

• I can’t either.

• Me either. (US English)

• Me neither. (UK English)

• Neither can I.

Too

‘Too’ has the same meaning as ‘also‘ adding an agreeing thought. It’s usually used at the end of the sentence:

• I love chocolate. I love pizza too.

• Frank can come with us. Nancy can come with us too.

‘Too’ can occur immediately after the subject, if it refers directly to the subject:

• We, too, have been very pleased to be there.

‘Too’ is especially common in responses to fixed expressions (such as wishes), and in responses consisting of a single object pronoun:

• Enjoy your time! – Yeah, thanks! Enjoy your evening too.

• I hate mushrooms. – Yeah, me too.