Learn English – Placement of “either” (and the verbs that follow)

adverbsconjunctions

Are these right? Can the word either be put in either place?

David will either write or have written.

David either will write or have written.

……

What about when mixing a gerund and a participle? Is this one acceptable?

She likes either swimming or to study.

……

Are these the same thing?

I either drunk coffee or tea.

I drunk either coffee or tea.

……………………..

Also, is this the correct way to conjugate the verb?

Either plural or plural the verb is plural ⇒ Either trucks or cars are here.

Either singular or plural the verb is plural ⇒ Either a truck or cars **are here*.

Either plural or singular the verb is singular ⇒ Either trucks or a car **is here*.

Either singular or singular the verb is singular ⇒ Either a truck or a car **is here*.

Are those assumptions correct in both informal and formal English?

I've inquired at sites like this one and looked at some dictionaries for guidance, but I am still confused.

Best Answer

My main comment at first would be that the verb form on each side of "or" should match. So in the first pair

David will either write or have written.

is OK. The next one it should be

David either will write or will have written.

Next sentence:

She likes either swimming or studying.

or

She likes either to swim or to study.

In the next pair, the correct verb is drank.

I drank either coffee or tea.

but

I either drunk coffee or tea.

is wrong because the options attached to either are the coffee and tea, not two actions like drank or xx. But you could say

I either drank coffee or ate cake.

basically its that you either drank or ate.

Usage of either in the other sentences except this last one seems OK, since that is your main question. You just have to be careful either is referring to choices of nouns or verbs.

Sorry as for the last section I am not sure what you are asking. Could you add an example for each case?

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