What is the grammatical function of the word 'either'? If you are confused, you're not alone!
Let's look at 'either' when it is used as a pronoun: 'Marry either of the two women.' sounds grammatically correct and it is. 'Marry any of the three women.' not only sounds better than 'Marry either of the three women.' but is also the grammatically correct choice. Just as 'between' is used to talk of 2 and only 2 entities and 'among' for 3 or more entities, 'either' is used to talk of 2 and only 2 entities while 'any' for 3 or more entities. In other words, use 'either' when talking about two things and use 'any' when talking about more than two things.
Nothing seems straightforward in grammar though. During the Old English (6th cen to 10th cen) and early Middle English (10th cen to 13th cen) periods, 'either' was taken to mean 'each of two' or 'both'. It wasn't until the late Middle English period where 'either' took on the disjunctive sense of meaning 'one or the other (but not both)'. The disjunctive sense was also covered by the word 'outher'; but, 'outher' became obsolete around the 16th cen, and so 'either' once again denoted the two prior meanings. Over the next 5 centuries the two prevailing meanings competed with each other. Eventually, the disjunctive meaning became dominate in Modern English.
Nonetheless, the original meaning has left a remaining residue of confusion in current language speakers. The Oxford English Dictionary actually recommends that the original meaning "must often be avoided on account of [its] ambiguity".
However, using 'either' is preferred over 'any' for whence a sentence talking of 3 or more entities yields an ungrammatical sentence. Thus, the sentence, 'President Nixon was either a good president, a bad president, or the best president' is a grammatical exception and therefore correct since using 'any' in this situation would yield an ungrammatical sentence.
Nothing seems straightforward in grammar though. During the Old English (6th cen to 10th cen) and early Middle English (10th cen to 13th cen) periods, 'either' was taken to mean 'each of two' or 'both'. It wasn't until the late Middle English period where 'either' took on the disjunctive sense of meaning 'one or the other (but not both)'. The disjunctive sense was also covered by the word 'outher'; but, 'outher' became obsolete around the 16th cen, and so 'either' once again denoted the two prior meanings. Over the next 5 centuries the two prevailing meanings competed with each other. Eventually, the disjunctive meaning became dominate in Modern English.
Nonetheless, the original meaning has left a remaining residue of confusion in current language speakers. The Oxford English Dictionary actually recommends that the original meaning "must often be avoided on account of [its] ambiguity".
However, using 'either' is preferred over 'any' for whence a sentence talking of 3 or more entities yields an ungrammatical sentence. Thus, the sentence, 'President Nixon was either a good president, a bad president, or the best president' is a grammatical exception and therefore correct since using 'any' in this situation would yield an ungrammatical sentence.
1 comment:
I understand the notes on 'any,' but assuming you want to say the following: "Either they were there for their kith or kin or themselves."
I don't fancy using 'any' in place of 'either,' but I have no clue what to use.
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