ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > neither - more mistake
neither - more mistake

anlu79
|
neither - more mistake
|
Hello teachers!
Could some of you please comment on that sentence:
�Teenagers are neither spending their money on useless things, nor aren �t they thinking about it. �
Am I right in saying that the second part of this sentence is wrong because you can �t use �nor � combined with a negative form?
Thanks for your feedback :)
|
15 Nov 2009
|
|
|

mariaelaine
|
Yes it is incorrect. It should be .......nor are they thinking about it.
|
15 Nov 2009
|
|

anlu79
|
I think he wanted to say that teenagers do think about the way they spend their money.
I think the correct sentence ending should be �nor are they thoughtless about it �, although that sounds a bit weird. !?
|
15 Nov 2009
|
|

juliag
|
This might sound a little more natural though it �s a bit long:
�Teenagers are neither spending their money on useless things, nor spending it without thinking about what they really want and/or need. �
|
15 Nov 2009
|
|

Beeya
|
I think the correct form should be ... nor do they think about it. I personally don�t see why present continuous is used there, since the phrase should imply a rather general state.
In what regards that they do think about not spending money, I kind of doubt that. |
15 Nov 2009
|
|

anlu79
|
Thanks for your replies! I think he meant to say that teenagers do think about it, as it was a longer essay and he argued in favour of teens getting pocket-money.
Seems like this neither-nor issue is rather complicated, I �ll have to do an extra lesson on it some time soon.
|
15 Nov 2009
|
|
|