Learn English – Using the “neither … nor” construct for different group of objects

expressions

Consider I have two items X and Y from one group and items A and B from another group and also each group contains more than two items.

Then, can I phrase a clause like this mentioned below?

It is neither X or Y nor A or B.

I am not asking about the compatibility of the items of different groups, I am just asking about the "neither … nor" grammar here.

Best Answer

I think its different because it is two groups. Let's say I have choices of apples(X), oranges(Y), lettuce(A) and cabbage(B) for my salad.

My salad has neither (apples or oranges) nor (lettuce or cabbage).

since the 2 groups were specified in the question. I think this gets confusing because there was no selection.

But its not the same thing as

My salad has neither apples nor oranges nor lettuce nor cabbage.

because when you make a selection, for example,

My salad has either (apples or oranges) or (lettuce or cabbage).

you can have apples and lettuce but you can't have apples and oranges.

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