On Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:02:08 +0100, Einde O'Callaghan
Post by Einde O'CallaghanPost by Egbert WhiteOn Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:13:40 +0100, Einde O'Callaghan
Post by Einde O'CallaghanPost by Susanne ColbethHi everybody,
1. I did not know this either.
2. I did not know this neither.
Which of those is correct? Can anybody help?
(I tried with translation from spanisch, where 'tambien' changes to
'tampoco').
The first is correct.
But it's ambiguous, hence to be avoided. It can mean 'I knew neither
this nor something else,' or 'Neither I nor someone else knew this.'
That is, in 'I did not know this either,' the antecedent of 'either'
is not clear.
On it's own it is ambiguous - but I'm assuming that there is a statement
before this that makes the antecedent clear. The OP hasn't provided any
context and only asked which of two alternatives was grammatically
correct.
In speech, of course, the ambiguity would be avoided by stress and/or
intonation. It could also be avoided in print by italicizing either
'this' or 'I' as appropriate.
Post by Einde O'CallaghanThe second alternative was definitely incorrect.
Very true, although it can be expected in substandard English.
I didn't mean to find fault with your completely satisfactory
response. I just thought it was a good occasion to call attention to
an additional usage point.
--
Egbert White, | "I love Americans, but not when they try
Planet Earth | to talk French. What a blessing it is that
| that they never try to talk English."
| -- Saki's Mrs. Mebberley