Which sentence is grammatically correct?

Soldato
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Ironically, neither of them was from Bordeaux or Bristol.

Ironically, neither of them were from Bordeaux or Bristol.


I thought the latter, but Microsoft Word thinks the former is correct... I just wanted a second (third, fourth, fifth, etc) opinion. Thanks. :cool:
 
Soldato
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Ironically, neither of them were from Bordeaux or Bristol.

'was' being a singular expression, in good grammer you would use 'were' to properly express the plural, that is indicated in the previous words 'neither' and 'them'

microsoft word is full of ****
 
Soldato
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"Neither" is referring to two things. So "were" is the correct word, not "was".

Word regularly gets mixed up. Use your own judgement.
 
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Neither is referring to two things. So "were" is the correct word.

"neither" is referring to one or the other....so it is singular.

For example if we expand the sentence:

"Ironically Neither one was from Bristol or Bordeaux", you can see that the use of neither indicates a singular......neither one or the other...etc.

The use of neither denotes the context of the sentence, so it should be

"Ironically, neither of them was from Bristol or Bordeaux"

However, it might be better worded thus:

"Ironically, neither one was from Bristol or Bordeaux"


The normal form is to treat 'Neither' as singular even if followed by a plural noun, pronoun verb etc.....

I wouldn't worry too much about it though as you will see both forms so often that it is academic these days.
 
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Soldato
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Shows what I know, I'd have gone for "Neither of them was from Bordeaux or Bristol ironically".

I'm off to the thickys section :(
 
Soldato
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"neither" is referring to one or the other....so it is singular.

For example if we expand the sentence:

"Ironically Neither one was from Bristol or Bordeaux", you can see that the use of neither indicates a singular......neither one or the other...etc.

The use of neither denotes the context of the sentence, so it should be

"Ironically, neither of them was from Bristol or Bordeaux"

However, it might be better worded thus:

"Ironically, neither one was from Bristol or Bordeaux"


The normal form is to treat 'Neither' as singular even if followed by a plural noun, pronoun verb etc.....

I wouldn't worry too much about it though as you will see both forms so often that it is academic these days.

Did you eat an encyclopedia this morning, jees.
 
Associate
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Both are correct. Technically the first one "complies" with the rules, however the second one is colloquial English, hence why it sounds correct.
 
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