Timeline for Can "either" be used for more than two items?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
24 events
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| Mar 5, 2021 at 23:31 | comment | added | user131144 | Know your audience. If you consider that your readers will be prevented from backtracking or stumbling when they read a given construction by their knowledge that Jane Austen used it, or that the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language says it's OK, then fine - use the construction to your heart's content. | |
| Mar 5, 2021 at 23:19 | comment | added | user131144 | I wouldn't want to argue with my readers that what they're reading is good English because a "vetted grammar source" says so. If you've made a large proportion of them backtrack or stumble, then it's not good English. "Either A, B, or C" falls into that category, as often does usage of the split infinitive, despite many fine writers having used it and many fine sources saying it's not incorrect. Don't battle with your readers over whether you're using good grammar or not. | |
| Mar 5, 2021 at 23:13 | answer | added | user131144 | timeline score: 1 | |
| Apr 2, 2018 at 15:50 | answer | added | David M. Clark | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jan 2, 2016 at 18:23 | history | edited | Jasper | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Corrected typo.
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| Jan 2, 2016 at 16:11 | history | edited | M.A.R. |
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| Aug 14, 2015 at 10:26 | vote | accept | Mehdi Haghgoo | ||
| Aug 6, 2015 at 3:06 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackEnglishLL/status/629126252922806272 | ||
| Aug 5, 2015 at 19:20 | comment | added | Catija | @JasonStack The original version of the answer was less well-explained and had some errors, which I have worked to rectify. :) | |
| Aug 5, 2015 at 19:17 | comment | added | Mehdi Haghgoo | Thank you @Catija. Your answer treats the usage quite well from different aspects. I don't know it has been down-voted. | |
| Aug 5, 2015 at 19:14 | history | edited | Mehdi Haghgoo | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 43 characters in body
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| Aug 5, 2015 at 19:13 | comment | added | Catija | @JasonStack Ah, I see. That makes sense. I hope my recent edits of my answer clarify things for you in this usage case. If you have any specific questions I'm happy to try to help. | |
| Aug 5, 2015 at 19:12 | comment | added | Mehdi Haghgoo | @Catija I translated it into English from a Persian dissertation abstract. I am not sure if I had seen similar usage of either somewhere, but I found it somehow convenient to use and wondered if it was grammatical. So posted a question here :) | |
| Aug 5, 2015 at 15:25 | comment | added | Catija | Can you please clarify whether this is an original sentence that you have written yourself or if it is a quote from somewhere else? I can't find the sentence when I search for it, so it would be helpful to know the source of the writing. | |
| Aug 5, 2015 at 15:01 | comment | added | Catija | I recommend an edit to the question title to make it more in line with the question content. The two questions are asking different things. | |
| Aug 5, 2015 at 2:59 | comment | added | user230 | When you're writing that many comments, it's usually a sign that what you're writing is actually an answer :-) | |
| Aug 4, 2015 at 23:06 | history | edited | F.E. |
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| Aug 4, 2015 at 21:12 | comment | added | Mehdi Haghgoo | I aspire living in an English speaking country, but I can't for now. Thanks for your lots of useful info @F.E. | |
| Aug 4, 2015 at 21:04 | comment | added | F.E. | (cont.) This is their concluding sentence for that usage #2 on page 293: "You can therefore conclude that either is rarely used of more than two when a pronoun or adjective, but that the conjunction is commonly so used. | |
| Aug 4, 2015 at 21:03 | comment | added | F.E. | As for the example in the body of your post: I wouldn't be surprised if that excerpt is from a relatively old writing, or from a rather formal or restricted register (e.g. legal stuff). In other words, that type of usage is rather rare. The story on that type of construction is somewhat different (from that of the coordination usage). My MWCDEU provides this example: "… beside him was a telephone through which he could communicate with anyone, on either of the three trains. --Hector Bolitho, A Century of British Monarchy, 1951". (cont.) | |
| Aug 4, 2015 at 20:54 | comment | added | F.E. | To answer the general question in your title: Yes, it can. "The majority of his paintings feature either children, fishermen, or old people --This England, Autumn 1983", excerpt from MWCDEU page 293. You can also find related info on this type of coordination in the 2002 reference grammar by Huddleston and Pullum (et al.), The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, pages 361 and 388. That is a vetted grammar source. | |
| Aug 4, 2015 at 9:07 | answer | added | J.R.♦ | timeline score: 10 | |
| Aug 4, 2015 at 6:06 | answer | added | Catija | timeline score: 2 | |
| Aug 4, 2015 at 5:59 | history | asked | Mehdi Haghgoo | CC BY-SA 3.0 |