ME TOO vs ME NEITHER // SO DO I vs NEITHER DO I // SO HAVE I vs NEITHER HAVE I

Hello, lovely students, and  welcome back to English with  

Lucy. Which should you use, 'me to' or 'so do I'?

Is it 'Neither do I' or 'neither do I'?

Is 'Me either' even grammatically correct?

This video will answer all of  your questions about 'so', 'too',  

'neither' or 'neither,' and 'either' or 'either'?

I have created a free PDF to go with this video.

You will find all of the  information from this lesson,  

with extra examples and a link to some  interactive exercises for further practice.

To download this PDF, just click  on the link in the description box,

enter your name, your email  address and your English level.

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Okay, back to the lesson. We are going to begin  with a short quiz to see what you already know.

Complete the sentences with  'me too', 'so have I', 'neither

do I',

and 'me neither'.

Did you notice I used both pronunciations there?

Use each phrase once!

The short phrases express the idea that something  is also true for someone else. You're telling the  

speaker that you agree with what they have said  and have had the same experience or feelings.

It's like saying—'I also'.

Ready? Here are your 4 sentences:

'I've been to Rome.'

'I don't like black coffee.'

'I hate flying.'

'I haven't been to Paris.'

Which phrase can go with which  sentence? Pause the video to think.

Here are the answers.

How did you do? Let's go through  why we used each of those phrases,  

starting with number 1—'I've  been to Rome, so have I.'

Using 'so have I' is more  natural than saying—'I've  

been to Rome. I've also been to Rome.'

In positive sentences, we can use this structure:  

so + auxiliary + pronoun to  express the idea of 'also'.

In our example sentence,  'have' is the auxiliary verb.

'I have been, so have I.'

If I say this phrase slowly, I pronounce  it—'So have I.' But in fast speech,  

many speakers drop the sound the /h/ in 'have'.

So, you might hear something more similar  to 'so (h)ave I,' 'so (h)ave I.' Noticed the  

linking word sound there, and the weak form  of the auxiliary verb 'have,' 'so (h)ave I'.

Here are some more examples—'I was delighted  to hear Jolene got into university.

So were we.'

Again, notice how I use the weak form of  the verb here. 'So /wə/ we,' 'So /wə/ we.'

In this example, the main verb is 'be'.

We can use 'be' instead of an  auxiliary verb in our short answer. 

The same is true if 'have' is the main verb.

You can see an example of that in the  PDF. The link is in the description box.

Another example—'My daughter goes  running most mornings. So does my son!'

In the first statement, there was no auxiliary  verb. The sentence is in the present simple.

So, we use a form of 'do' in the short answer.

'I should really go to bed earlier.

So _.' What do you think?

It's—'So should I?'

Here's the next example:

'Frankie could swim when she  was only 2! So could my sister!'

'My mum loves gardening.'

How can you answer to agree that  'my mum also loves gardening'?

It would be—'So does mine.'

We want to agree with the subject 'my mum',  which contains the possessive adjective  

'my'. So, we use the possessive pronoun  'mine' rather than a subject pronoun.

All right, let's go back to our first sentence  

about Rome. What if it had  been in the negative form?

'I haven't been to Rome.' You can't say—'So  have I' or 'So haven't I.' What would you  

say instead to express agreement?  You would say—'Neither have I.'

Again, many speakers will drop the or /h/  or 'h' sound here. 'Neither (h)ave I.'

I can also use a linking 'r' sound to glide  between the 2 vowel sounds more easily.

'Neither (h)ave I.'

And that brings us to the  second statement in our quiz.

'I don't like black coffee.' The answer—'Neither do I.'

When the main verb is negative, we use  neither + the auxiliary verb + the pronoun.

We don't say—'Neither don't I.'  That would be a double negative,  

and they aren't usually used in English.

It's just—'Neither do I.'

But before we go any further,

I bet you're wondering about the  pronunciation. Let's talk about it now.

You can pronounce this word /ˈnaɪðə/  or /ˈniːðə/. Both are correct.

Use whichever pronunciation you feel more  comfortable with. And to be totally honest,  

I use both. I switch between the 2,

and I can't give you a rule about why I  do that, or when I use each pronunciation.

Sometimes I say /ˈniːðə/ and sometimes I  say /ˈnaɪðə/. Pick the one that you like.

Okay, let's see some more examples  with /ˈnaɪðə/ or /ˈniːðə/. Now:

'I won't be at the meeting  tomorrow. Neither will I.'

'I didn't like the film. Neither did I.'

'We can't wait for Christmas. Neither can we!'

I used /kən/ instead of  'can' here. 'Neither can we'.

'Their kids almost never eat  vegetables. Neither do ours!'

You saw the possessive adjective 'their,' so we  

answered with the possessive  pronoun 'ours' or 'ours'.

You'll find a lot of English speakers  saying 'ours' in fast speech.

All right, let's move on to talk about  statement 3 from our quiz earlier in the video:  

'I hate flying,' and the answer—'Me too.' So,  'me too' is an informal way to say 'I also hate  

flying'. Here are some more examples:  'I really wanted to go to New Zealand.

Me too.' 'I was nervous before the exam. Me too.'

Now, we don't usually use other  pronouns in short answers like this.

For example—'Us too' or 'him too'. You will hear  people use them, but they aren't really common.

Remember, we can also use so + auxiliary +  subject to agree with a positive statement.

Let's look at those 3 phrases again.

Can you respond to them using  'so'? Pause to have a think.

Are you ready for the answers?

Great, use 'do' to agree with statements in the  present simple and 'did' in the past simple.

In the third sentence, we just  repeat the main verb 'to be'—simple.

And now it's time to look at statement 4:

'I haven't been to Paris.

Me neither.'

So, 'me neither' is the  negative version of 'me too'.

We use it to agree with negative statements.

'Me neither' and 'me too' are much easier,  

right? We don't have to think  about the correct verb to use.

Here are some more examples with 'Me neither':

'I'm not going on holiday this year. Me neither.'

'I didn't like reading when  I was younger. Me neither.'

Remember, we can also use the structure  

neither + auxiliary + pronoun to  agree with negative statements.

'Neither am I', 'neither did I'.

You might have heard people say—'me  either' rather than 'me neither'.

It's more common in American English  than in British English, and it is  

considered grammatically incorrect by some people.

It's often better to say 'me neither',  

unless you're in a very informal situation  with other people who prefer 'me either'.

Now that I've mentioned 'either',  I think it's time to talk about how  

we usually use that word. Try  to complete these sentences:

'I love the smell of fresh bread. I do _.'

And—'I don't like spicy food. I don't _.'

Here are the answers: 'I do  too,' and 'I don't either'. So,  

after a positive statement, we can  use subject + auxiliary verb + 'too'.

And after a negative statement, we  can add the same form with 'either'.

The auxiliary verb should be negative when  it's followed by 'either'. A note that  

just like with 'neither' and 'neither',  we can pronounce it 'either' or 'either'.

These structures are more formal  than 'me too' and 'me neither'.

Here are some more examples: 'I'm  learning French at the moment.

I am too!'

'Ruth's husband can't cook  very well. Ruth can't either!'

'We'll help if you need us to. Yeah, we will too.'

And I've put even more examples in the PDF.

Okay, finally, let's see all of  the structures together. What  

are the 3 short answers you could  use to agree with each statement?

'I can speak Spanish.'

'I can't speak Japanese.'

Pause the video to think.

Are you ready? Let's start with—'I

can speak Spanish.'

We have 'So can I', 'Me too,' or 'I can too'.

And with 'I can't speak Japanese'—'Neither  can I,' 'Me neither,' 'I can't either'.

How did you do?

We're at the end of the lesson now,  

and it's your turn. I want you to write  a sentence about yourself in the comments  

and then respond to someone else with one  of the short answers you've just learned.

Interact with each other and practice  what you've learned from this lesson.

Check the comments to find out what 'my  sentences' and respond to me if you agree.

Don't forget to download the PDF for this lesson.

I really hope you enjoyed it. I hope you learned  

something and I will see  you in the next one. Muah!