“Nor” is a word we don’t use often.
Sure, we’ve probably all heard it or read it, especially paired with “neither”. Some of us probably learned it as part of the FANBOYS mnemonic device to help us remember the coordinating conjunctions.
The problem with words that fall out of favour is that we can easily forget how to use them in a sentence. So, I wanted to take a few minutes to explain how to use “nor” in a sentence.
Paired with “neither”
As I mentioned above, the most common way to use “nor” in a sentence is to pair it with “neither”. Here are some examples:
- He neither grows hot peppers nor eats them.
- She can neither climb a tree nor skate on ice.
- I have been to neither Europe nor South America.
In each example, “neither” and “nor” work together to express 2 negative situations. As such, you wouldn’t substitute “nor” with “or”, as the latter doesn’t imply the same negativity.
Verb–noun agreement
Occasionally, when using the “neither–nor” pair, you may need to connect two nouns that challenge verb–noun agreement (apples and tree, elephants and lion, etc). To ensure verb–noun agreement, make the verb agree with the noun closest to it.
- Neither the apples nor the tree from which they came was appealing.
- Neither the lion nor the elephants like Canadian winters.
Notice in the first example that “was appealing” agreed with “the tree” and in the second, “like” agrees with “the elephants”?
Parallelism
Also, remember that the “neither–nor” combination requires parallelism. Try to match the pattern of the words following “neither” and that which follows “nor.”
- Wrong: They will dance neither at the club nor go to the beach.
- Right: They will neither dance at the club nor go to the beach.
Using without “neither”
Just because we use “nor” with “neither” doesn’t mean it must always be accompanied by “neither”.
- I detest walnuts. Nor do I like breakfast sausages.
While you could write that sentence to include neither, you don’t need to. It works perfectly fine as is.
When to use “or” instead
Now, you don’t need to always use “nor” in negative sentences. Sometimes, you can use “or”. If you’re describing an action or a state, use “nor”, When you’re describing a noun, adjective or adverb phrase, use “or”.
- He does not care for spaghetti or soup.
- He cares neither to eat spaghetti nor to slurp soup.
What tricks do you use to remember when to use “nor”? Let me know in the comments below.
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