Today on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Mehdi in Iran.

今天的名师答疑节目中，我们回复伊朗的马赫迪提出的问题afbdtJ0Pc3E63(N7u^)l。

He writes:

他写道：

Please explain about either/or and neither/nor. – Mehdi, Iran

请讲解一下either/or 和neither/nor——伊朗，马赫迪+~iBIw07R4g*et。

Dear Mehdi,

亲爱的马赫迪，

The words either, or and neither are kinds of conjunctions, or words that join parts of a sentence together.

“either”、“or”以及“neither”这些单词都是连词，也就是将句子结构各部分连接到一起的单词YD&]Fr;HgKOK。

English speakers use either … or to talk about a choice between two things.

讲英语的人用“either……or”来讨论两者之间的一个选择E^#yL3)0z,g73x。

On a beautiful spring day, one can say, "I will either ride my bicycle or walk to work."

在一个美丽的春天，人们可以说：“我要么骑自行车，要么步行上班h!c=k,*Zp%nFu]7~w]J%。”

In this example, the structure with verbs is: EITHER verb OR verb.

在这个例子中，连接动词的结构是：EITHER连接动词加OR再连接动词MTN2S%9Uh3],e*i。

You can also use either…or with nouns.

你也可以用either……or连接名词V,DFl.)d6PJ。

For example, when it is time to eat lunch, I may tell my coworker, "I feel like eating either Chinese or Indian food today.

例如，到了吃午饭的时间，我可以跟同事说，“我今天想吃中餐或印度餐ftB@46#V)]w7-o60com*。”

The structure is: EITHER noun OR noun.

这个句子的结构是：EITHER连接名词加OR再连接名词ZsIZiW%(l@5Pj。

We understand that the speaker will choose only one of the two things.

我们知道，说话者会选择这两者中的一个SoPueH!lB7qLiP*6]Ny。

We use neither … nor when the speaker will not choose from the options given.

当说话者不会选择给出的任何选项时，我们使用neither……norsRcdFx=K4fwWE3。

My friend is getting married at a seaside town in New Zealand.

我朋友正在新西兰的一个海滨小镇结婚SK(+2=kMd)。

She says, “Neither rain nor snow will ruin the wedding.”

她说：“不管是刮风还是下雨都无法破坏这场婚礼j!5ShxpuK^@Gv^。”

The structure is the same here: NEITHER noun NOR noun.

这句话也是一样的结构：NEITHER连接名词加NOR再连接名词@Hg^P)vE#xz51N+B&。

You can use neither…nor with verbs, too.

你也可以使用neither……nor来连接动词FE++%nEP612]X%z+Q。

One can say, "My brother is very healthy - he neither smokes nor drinks."

可以说：“我哥哥非常健康，他既不抽烟也不喝酒#3JMA,QALK。”

The structure is: NEITHER verb NOR verb.

这句话的结构是：NEITHER连接动词加NOR再连接动词ymy+frYD^tJ&vBJg[D&。

But if a sentence already has a negative word like "not," it is more common to use either.

但是如果句子中已经有一个像not之类的否定词，我们就更多使用eitherm)E)pDG~67SEt7xJxb3i。

For example, “Sandy does not play either football or cricket.”

例如，“桑迪既不会踢球，也不会打板球M6]4O9-8=[u%vj0。”

There are two ways of pronouncing either and neither.

either和neither有两种发音Z)-&HyfO&Y2;!kDupvy。

People in both the United States and Britain may say either with /i:/ at the beginning, as in "EE-thur" or with /ai/ at the beginning as in "EYE-thur."

美国和英国的人们可能要么把开头的字母读成/i:/，要么读成/ai/Ds2yjwiOQsCwhxjZ^ytR。

Choose one pronunciation and stay with it, so you will say the pair of words as "ee-thur" and "neethur" or say this pair: "eyethur" and "nyethur."

这两种发音随便选一个并固定下来，这样这组单词就读作“ee-thur”和“neethur”，或是“eyethur”和“nyethur”vP=P9p=EY);。

And that's Ask a Teacher.

以上就是本期名师答疑的全部内容]wpoP--;xq。

I’m Jill Robbins.

我是吉尔·罗宾斯%K-P.omcU_9q。