Consider a situation where Jonh and Amanda (They are friends ) go to a restaurant. John has never been here with a girl before and Amanda has never been here with any male friends. Now John says" I have never been here with a girl". Then Amanda says" Nor have I been here with a boy". Is the sentence said by Amanda correct ?
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That's perfectly idiomatic although so is the alternative neither have I been here with a boy..– Ronald SoleCommented Sep 14, 2018 at 14:27
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You will sometimes see a scene similar to this on some older movies, where the dialogue goes along the lines of, 'I have never been here with a girl'. With the rather ungrammatical response being, 'Nor have I. Ahh! Been here with a boy that is'.– JamesCommented Sep 14, 2018 at 15:57
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Nor (and neither) require that there should be at least some degree of "parallelism" between the two (negated) elements being contrasted. So in John doesn't eat meat, nor does Amanda, the paralleled element is not eating meat (which is contextually implicit for Amanda, so it doesn't need to be explicitly repeated). That parallelism is more strained in John doesn't eat meat, nor does Amanda eat fish, and it breaks down completely with disconnected assertions: John doesn't eat meat, nor does Amanda drink vodka or John doesn't vote, nor does Amanda wear skirts.– FumbleFingersCommented Sep 14, 2018 at 16:04
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1 Answer
It is correct, although a bit formal sounding. Here in the US, the sentence "neither have I" is a very common response to "I have never..." statements.
