Learn English – “They do not agree –neither with … nor with …”: Wrong

neither-nor

"The significant effects proposed by the 5 packages do not agree —neither with each other nor with the book."

Is this really wrong? I know the rule about using neither/nor only with affirmative statements, but it just feels so right.

I'm proofreading a text and wanted to add this. But the grammar check insists that it's incorrect (I know, not always reliable). I was hoping that setting it apart with the double-hyphen would separate it sufficiently from the affirmative verb.

Best Answer

Here is what I think sounds best (total opinion = the presence of the punctuation in this case doesn't change the grammar).

In the negative case, I would use either/or with a comma (or dash).

  • "The significant effects proposed by the 5 packages do not agree, either with each other or with the book."

In the positive case, I would use neither/nor but without punctuation.

  • "The significant effects proposed by the 5 packages agree neither with each other nor with the book."
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