Does either mean one or two?

Does either mean one or two?

one or the other of two: You may sit at either end of the table. each of two; the one and the other: There are trees on either side of the river. one or the other: There are two roads into the town, and you can take either.

What does either and/or mean?

used to refer to a situation in which there is a choice between two different plans of action, but both together are not possible: It’s an either-or situation – we can buy a new car this year or we can go on vacation, but we can’t do both.

Can you use either for more than two?

Standard dictionaries generally accept the use of “either” or “neither” to introduce a series of more than two items. Merriam-Webster Unabridged, for example, says “either” can be used “before two or more coordinate words, phrases, or clauses joined usually by or.” It defines “neither” as “not one of two or more.”

How do you use either?

Either of. Either must be followed by of if we use it before the, these, those or possessives (my, your) with a plural noun: Either of the children can come with us; we don’t mind which. I don’t want either of my parents to know I’ve lost my job.

Does or mean either or both?

3 Answers. In general, “or” is somewhat ambiguous between whether it does or does not include both. In this particular construction—“You may do X or Y”—the tendency is to mean the exclusive or—one or the other, but not both.

Does or mean both?

‘And/or’ means ‘ both or either’. “And” means both. “Or”, as commonly used, means one or the other.

Does either or mean not both?

“Either/Or” In every day language we use the phrase “either A or B” to mean that one of the two options holds, but not both. For example, when most people say something like “You can have either a hot dog or hamburger,” they usually aren’t offering you both.

Is it either or ether?

Either , as we all know, means one or the other: “You will need to choose either the red shirt or the blue one.” Ether, on the other hand, refers to a volatile, highly flammable liquid, used chiefly in industry and as an anesthetic: “Ether is used by doctors to put patients to sleep.”

Why do we say ” both ” and ” either ” in English?

Learners of English quite often confuse the words “both” and “either”, probably because these tend to be translated using a single word into their mother tongue. The meaning of “both” is usually quite clear. It means “the one as well as the other”; for example, when you speak about two restaurants, you can say:

When do you use either or in a sentence?

Either/or means “one or the other.” Its usage, versus the simple or structure, is often for emphatic purposes, sometimes intending to emphasize that only one option is possible, or to emphasize that there are only two options. Its use in a sentence lets the reader/listener know in advance that a list of two or more possibilities will be given.

When do you use either a or B?

Either A or B means the same as A or B. Each can mean or used in the inclusive or exclusive sense. Usually, the inclusive sense is used in mathematics and the exclusive sense in everyday life. In any case, further specification or context will remove any doubt. In mathematics or computing you do not need context to remove the uncertainty.

When does ” either a or B ” preclude both A and B?

“Either A or B” does not absolutely preclude “A and B”, but the general usage and meaning tends to prefer the XOR (“not (A and B)”). According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (CALD), it states that “either-or describes a situation in which there is a choice between two different plans of action, but both together are not possible.