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A) He is lazy. He also doesn't study/He doesn't study too.
B) He is lazy. He doesn't study either.

According to Swan Practical English Usage (47) which says that after an affirmative sentence which is followed by a negative statement we must use also/too/as well, sentence A is correct but in my own point of view and according to EnglishPage.com sentence B is correct.

There is also another question in English Language and Usage community Can “too” be used with negative verb? which made me more confused.

Would you please tell me which one of these two sentences is correct? Can they be both correct with different meanings?

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2 Answers 2

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I think the problem you're having is that you're mixing two sentence types - affirmative and negative sentences. The first sentence is an affirmative sentence about a negative thing... You're saying he is something, but the thing you're saying he is, is a negative thing.

The next sentence says he isn't something, so therefor it has to follow the rule for negative sentences by using the word "either."

If instead, the next sentence said he was something, rather than he wasn't something, then you could use the word too.

Examples:

He is lazy. He is stupid too.

He isn't lazy. He isn't stupid either.

He isn't lazy. He is smart too.

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    Don't like the third example. In British English we don't say that, I prefer "He isn't lazy, but he is smart." Commented Sep 7, 2017 at 19:51
  • @DoWhileNot what you mean is we should care about the meaning not the structure of the verb,is that right?! then how do you answer this question... He isn't lazy what about Anna?!
    – anonymous
    Commented Sep 7, 2017 at 19:53
  • No, not the meaning - the order of the sentence pairs. You'll use too or either depending on whether the final sentence is an affirmative or negative sentence.
    – DoWhileNot
    Commented Sep 7, 2017 at 20:07
  • @Weather Vane - Yeah, that one's kind of awkward. Midwest American English might use, "He ain't lazy, an' he's smart too," but ain't nobody nowheres would actually use the third example while speaking. It's technically correct though... any ideas on a better example?
    – DoWhileNot
    Commented Sep 7, 2017 at 20:17
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A. I'm a student. B can say: I'm also a student. C can say : I'm a student too. D can say: So am I.

A. I like him. B : I also like him. C : I like him too. D : So do I.

A. I'm not a teacher. B. I'm not(a teacher)either. C: Nor am I. D: Neither am I.

A: I don't like her. B: I don't like (her) either. C: Nor do I. D: Neither do I.

According to subject and the tense we need to choose the respective helping (auxiliary) verb as we use in Question tags. However it is better to use "too" and "also" only in affirmative or positive sentences. The easiest way to omit all these complications join the conversation with "Me too" or "Me as well"

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