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I have never seen him laugh, nor have I ever seen him lose his temper.

Is there a difference in the use of inversion with "neither" and "nor"? For instance, is it correct to change "nor have I ever seen him lose his temper" to "neither have I ever seen him lose his temper"?

glance
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  • You need negative inversion either way, but the use of neither requires a separate clause: I have never seen him laugh; neither have I ever seen him lose his temper. Compare I have never seen him laugh; I have never seen him lose his temper either. – Tinfoil Hat Mar 22 '24 at 02:26

1 Answers1

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Yes, use inversion. Cambridge Dictionaries website says:

When a clause with neither or nor is used after a negative clause, we invert the subject and the verb after neither and nor.

It gives one example with neither and one with nor:

He hadn’t done any homework, neither had he brought any of his books to class.

We didn’t get to see the castle, nor did we see the cathedral.

Further examples of sentences with "never" can be found in this question: "Nor" in combination with "never:" Usage and meaning. These also, in conjunction with the above, justify the validity of "Never ... neither ...", although this is not the question here.

Hence, it is fine to write:

I have never seen him laugh, neither have I ever seen him lose his temper.

Although using "nor" might be more usual.

Stuart F
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    Is the difference not that with nor you end up with a single sentence because nor is a coordinator, but that with neither you end up with two distinct sentences (in terms of the grammar. Not fussing re punctuation etc). – Araucaria - Him Mar 21 '24 at 09:54