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In English, there are many ways to express an idea but the context is still the same. Let's say you are playing DOTA(an online game), and the shoutcaster has just said this:

"player A and player B are a bit low on damage between the two of them, because neither one are being "level 6"(strong) just yet."(from the shoutcaster)

Vs.

"player A and player B are a bit low on damage between the two of them, because neither one of them aren't "level 6"(strong) yet"(I constructed this one)

Are the two sentences the same as for the context?

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    Why are you considering "are being"? What's the difference to you between "are being" and just "are"? We don't normally use to be in the progressive.
    – stangdon
    Commented Aug 23, 2018 at 12:48
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    @stangdon OP considers "are being" because it's the phrase used by someone commenting the game. Maybe that one isn't a native speaker either.
    – RubioRic
    Commented Aug 23, 2018 at 13:31
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    I strongly believe he is a native one. I have added ''being'' as that's what he said. Here's the link: youtu.be/ylKBHSf4V1A between 2:05-2:30mins.
    – John Arvin
    Commented Aug 23, 2018 at 13:57
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    @JohnArvin - Thanks! I listened to the video, and he says, "...low on damage between the two of them, neither one of them being level 6 just yet." That's a slightly different structure: it's a participial phrase, whereas after because you need a separate clause.
    – stangdon
    Commented Aug 23, 2018 at 14:15

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No, it's not the same. Yours does not mean what you intend.

You have included an unnecessary double negation. The word neither does include a negation.

According to Cambridge Dictionary
neither

not either of two things or people

Your phrase rewritten using that dictionary:

not either of them are not level 6

That sentence implies that they are in level 6 and I think that this is not your intention.

I think that this is correct and says what you mean:

because neither one of them are level 6 yet

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  • ”Because any of the two is not level 6 yet'' -Is this ok now?
    – John Arvin
    Commented Aug 23, 2018 at 12:30
  • I doesn't sound natural to me but I'm no English native speaker. As I have pointed you just have to remove the not from your initial "aren't"
    – RubioRic
    Commented Aug 23, 2018 at 12:34
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    @JohnArvin Negatives should go earlier in the sentence; we like to make a statement negative as early as possible. "Neither of them are level 6" is much better than "Both of them are not level 6", which is unnatural and a bit harder to follow to a native speaker's ear.
    – Drazex
    Commented Aug 23, 2018 at 13:22
  • @Drazex, very useful, sagacious tip there hehe. But can I add an extra to this... ''Neither of them are level 6 yet" -is that ok?
    – John Arvin
    Commented Aug 23, 2018 at 14:00
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    @JohnArvin Yes, adding a "yet" is perfect. The only difference is that "yet" tells us that we expect that it will happen in the future, which sounds like exactly the case in this example.
    – Drazex
    Commented Aug 23, 2018 at 14:01

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