Do you know that there
are different ways you can affirm a speaker's dislike? What I actually mean is
that if someone states that he/she does not like a particular thing, do you
know that there are different ways you can agree to the person's statement? If
you don't, relax because that is what I will be showing today.
Today we are going to
look at some ways of agreeing about a dislike of some sort.
"I don't like it
either" and "Neither do I" are the two possible ways you can
use to affirm a speaker's dislike or negative statement. However, these two
ways are used differently. In other words, they can't be used in the same
context.
Before I state how they
can be used, let's quickly look at the conversation between Tammy(T) and Rose
(R):
T: I don’t like studying maths all day long. It’s so boring.
R: Neither do I. It takes up my whole afternoon. My dad says he
didn’t like it either at school so it must run in the family.
T: Oh well, it needs to be done. I don’t want
to waste any more time.
R: Me neither Tammy. Let’s go to the library so
we can help each other.
“I don’t like it either” and “neither
do I” are used as responses when a person agrees with a speaker’s
negative statements.
When do I use "I
don't like it either"?
When a speaker states
his/her dislike about something/someone without using the negative auxiliary
"don't", you affirm the speaker's statement using "I don't like
it either."
Example:
Speaker: I hate cigar smoke.
You: I don’t like it either.
You answer with “I
don’t like it either” because although the speaker's statement is negative, it
does not contain a negative auxiliary, so you affirm to the speaker's statement
by adding the negative auxiliary, "don't."
When do I use
"Neither do I"?
When a speaker states
his/her dislike about something, using the negative auxiliary
"don't", you affirm the speaker's statement using " Neither do
I" or "Me neither."
Example:
Speaker: I don’t like cigar smoke.
You: Neither do I.
If the speaker uses
“don’t” or “didn’t”, the sentence is considered negative, so you answer
"neither do I".
There are also two
other possible responses: “neither do I” or “me
neither”,
More examples:
Speaker: I don’t like studying.
You: Neither do I / Me neither.
Speaker: I don’t want to waste my time.
You: Neither do I / Me neither.
Speaker: She didn’t go to the party.
You: Neither did I / Me neither.
I hope this has been
helpful.