Either or neither?
either is a determiner meaning “Any one (of two)”; neither is a determiner meaning “Not one of two; not either; not one or the other”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) either is about 3.6 times as common as neither.
What is the difference between either and neither?
| either | neither | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | determiner, pronoun, adverb, conjunction | determiner, conjunction, pronoun, adverb |
| Meaning | Any one (of two) Each of two; both One or the other of two people or things | Not one of two; not either; not one or the other Not either (used with nor) Not either one of two |
| Example | You can have it in either colour | Neither definition seems correct |
| Pronunciation | /ˈaɪ.ðə/ /ˈiː.ðə/ /ˈɑjðə/ | /ˈnaɪ.ðə/ /ˈniː.ðə/ /ˈnaɪ.ðɚ/ |
| In writing | 214 times per million words | 59 times per million words |
Sources: either and neither in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of either and neither
either
- 1
Any one (of two)
You can have it in either colour
- 2
One or the other of two people or things
He made me two offers, but I did not accept either
- 3
As well
I don't like him, and I don't like her either
- 4
Introduces the first of two (or occasionally more) options or possibilities, the second (or last) of which is introduced by “or”
Either you eat your dinner or you go to your room
- 5
Each of two; both
There is a locomotive at either end of the train, one pulling and the other pushing
- 6
proscribedAny one (of more than two)
I hope you will be ready to own publicly, whenever you shall be called to it, that by your great and frequent urgency you prevailed on me to publish a very loose and uncorrect…
neither
- 1
Not one of two; not either; not one or the other
Neither definition seems correct
- 2
Not either (used with nor)
Neither you nor I likes it
- 3
Not either one of two
I’ve tried on both shirts, but neither fits properly
- 4
Similarly not
Just as you would not correct it, neither would I
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, either or neither?
either appears 214 times per million words; neither 59 times per million words.
either 214 times per million wordsneither 59 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search either vs neither?
“either vs neither” is searched about 3,600 times a month on Google and 180 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“neither vs either”, “either or neither”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.