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Argentina flagLuciana
Neither-Nor - No-Nor ? I know I can use neither and nor together. She has neither read the book nor seen the film. But, in a sentence like this, is it correct the use of Nor? `I had no chance to email him NOR to phone her´ or should I say: I had no chance to email him OR to phone her Thanks!

Corrections · 10

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Neither-Nor - No-Nor ?

I know I can use neither and nor together. She has neither read the book nor seen the film.
But, in a sentence like this, is it correct to use (the use of) Nor? (`I had no chance to email him NOR to phone her´ or should I say: I had no chance to email him OR to phone her )

Thanks!

 

These, I would say, are your best options. 'Neither' goes with 'nor' and 'either' with 'or'. 

 

I had neither a chance to email him NOR phone her´

I had no chance to either email him OR phone her

I had no chance to email him OR to phone her )

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Oh! I had not seen the other comment you'd sent. It does help a lot. I now have no doubts nor questions about it :-)
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Excellent! having a look at that page. Thanks a lot!
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To clarify, "neither-nor" can be used with a verb, adverb, adjective or noun phrase, but both the "neither" and the "nor" have to come before the same type of phrase. Using the above example, you could say "He will study neither math nor science". Another example, "she likes neither blue nor green". "The work is done neither quickly nor easily." Examples of "neither-nor" being used incorrectly: "The cat will neither play nor the dog will run (neither is before a verb and nor is before a noun)". "She will complete her tasks neither inefficiently nor will she go to the store" (completely nonsensical and awkward)". I really hope this all helps you.
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(I'm getting this from a website I like. Here's the link: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/when-use-nor?page=1) Even with "neither-nor" you have to keep them parallel. For example, this is incorrect: "He will study neither his lesson nor do his chores". "Neither" goes with the noun "lesson" and "nor" goes with the verb "do". To fix it, say "He will neither study his lesson nor do his chores". Hope that helps. Quickanddirtytips.com has settled many arguments about grammar for me!

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