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Suppose there are two people. One of them tells the other to do something and the other wants the other person to do the same. So, A tells B "Eat an apple", B wants A to do the same thing.

So, B can shortly tell "you, too"., which means "I want you to do same thing." or "you must do the same as what you told me to." For instance:

"A: Eat an apple."

"B: You, too."

So far so good. The answer of B "You, too" simply gives the same command to A in a shorter form.

My question is what happens if the command is negative. For instance;

"A: Do not make noise."

"B: ................?????"

So, B wants to respond "Don't you make a noise either, just like you tell me not to."

So, Can B use the same above structure (You, too) when the impreative is negative? Or must it be in another form like:

"You either" or

"You neither" or

"Nor you"

"Neither you"

or none of the above?

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    "Don't you, either." Mar 27, 2021 at 14:31
  • I'm not understanding. Do you want a response that means "I will eat an apple, but I don't want you to eat an apple," or do you want a response that means "I will not eat an apple, and I don't want you to eat one either."
    – SegNerd
    Mar 27, 2021 at 15:05
  • There is no short idiomatically established response for the situation being described here. Perhaps partly because any response would almost certainly call attention to which of the two conversants is "dominant". I'm sure speakers of all languages get very careful when using utterances that reflect who's the dominant party and who's the submissive one in any "conversation", but particularly, a conversation starting with an imperative, where the addressee wants to reply with an imperative. I find it easier to imagine OP's context if B is a child (not yet "socialised"). Mar 27, 2021 at 16:33
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    Archetypal example... Dad: "Don't smoke / swear / sleep around / get drunk", Son: "You shouldn't smoke / etc. either!". Mar 27, 2021 at 16:36
  • FumbleFingers, thanks for the comment. Are you sure "you should not smoke" will function as strong as a negative command just like "Don't smoke".? It sounds like an advice rather than a command.
    – yunus
    Mar 27, 2021 at 21:20

1 Answer 1

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In casual speech, it's common to say "You, neither." I suppose this is the equivalent of "You, too". Somewhat more formal would be, "Neither should you" or "You shouldn't either" or "I don't think you should either."

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    I might say 'nor you'. Mar 27, 2021 at 16:09
  • Kate Bunting's suggestion "Don't you, either", really makes sense. And your answer "Nor you" sounds interesting. So, if B says "Nor you", would it mean the same as "Don't you, either"?
    – yunus
    Mar 27, 2021 at 21:16
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    @yunus Yes. All these answers mean basically the same thing.
    – Jay
    Mar 28, 2021 at 21:13

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