Conversational Language: Conversational Language (#16)

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."

 

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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 doesJoe.
John isn't working today.		Neither areTom and Lucy.
You weren't at the party.		Neither wasSally.
I wouldn't do that!		Neither wouldwe!
We haven't seen her.		Neither hasanyone else.
Betty didn't wait for us.		Neither didSue and Lily.
Joe won't help me.		Neither willCarla.
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.