Conversational
Language (#16):
Short Expressions of Agreement
(#2)
In conversational American
English, short expressions
of agreement are commonly used
when one person has
the same idea as
another. These
short expressions have
several different forms. A second type is used for two
statements
which are both negative ( - ):
| A
says: |
|
I'm
not afraid. |
| B
thinks: |
|
I'm
also not afraid. |
| B
says: |
|
Me,
either. |
Me, either can be used to refer to any verb
tense or form:
A
says: |
|
B thinks the same
thing and
says: |
| I'm
not hungry. |
|
Me,
either. |
| I don't want any chocolate. |
|
Me, either. |
| I'm not feeling
tired. |
|
Me,
either. |
| I wasn't tired yesterday. |
|
Me, either. |
| I can't go to sleep
right now. |
|
Me,
either. |
| I haven't been working hard. |
|
Me, either. |
| I didn't work hard
yesterday. |
|
Me,
either. |
| I won't work hard tomorrow. |
|
Me, either. |
| I might not be here
tomorrow. |
|
Me,
either. |
Special
Note:
Some people say "Me,
neither" instead of "Me, either."
_______________________________________________
Another
type of short expression
of agreement for two
negative ( -
) statements is also very common, but
its
grammar
is
more complicated:
A
says: |
|
B thinks the same
thing and
says: |
| I'm
not hungry. |
|
Neither am I. |
| I don't want any chocolate. |
|
Neither do I. |
| I'm not feeling tired. |
|
Neither am I. |
| I wasn't tired yesterday. |
|
Neither was I. |
| I can't go to sleep right now. |
|
Neither can I. |
| I haven't been working hard. |
|
Neither have I. |
| I didn't work hard yesterday. |
|
Neither did I. |
| I won't work hard tomorrow. |
|
Neither will I. |
| I might not be here tomorrow. |
|
Neither might I. |
This
type of short expression
of agreement has three
parts:
|
1 |
|
2 |
|
3 |
|
Neither |
|
BE, auxiliary, do
/ does
/ did |
|
subject |
The second part "echoes"
the verb
form in the first sentence
(BE, an auxiliary verb, or--if the verb isn't BE
and doesn't
have an auxiliary--
do / does / did). Since
Neither
is negative,
the verb form in part 2 is affirmative.
Susie
isn't at home.
A
says: |
|
B thinks the same
thing and
says: |
| |
Neither is her brother. |
| Susie doesn't live
here. |
|
Neither does Joe. |
| John isn't working today. |
|
Neither are Tom and Lucy. |
| You weren't at the
party. |
|
Neither was Sally. |
| I wouldn't do
that! |
|
Neither would we! |
| We haven't seen her. |
|
Neither has anyone else. |
| Betty didn't wait for
us. |
|
Neither did Sue and Lily. |
| Joe won't help
me. |
|
Neither will Carla. |
| I'd better not
forget! |
|
Neither had I! |
Special Note:
As you can see, part 3 of
the form with neither can be
a
pronoun or a noun
phrase. More examples:
A: Bob doesn't do well on
tests.
B:
Neither do a lot of other
people.
A: Jim hasn't traveled very
much.
B:
Neither have any of his
friends.
A: I'm not going to be finished
until after 5:00.
B: Neither are any of the
others.
|
