Me Either vs. Me Neither: Which Is Better?
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Me Either vs. Me Neither: Which Is Better?
You have probably come across the phrases me either and me neither in both writing and conversation. Have you ever wondered which is correct? Let’s look at the grammar behind these expressions.
Note that unlike pairs such as either vs. neither, these two phrases don’t have precise meanings. Although widely used, they are idiomatic as opposed to formal constructions of American English.
Me Either vs. Me Neither: Considering Two Poor Grammatical Choices
Both me either and me neither mean approximately the same thing, but neither is grammatically precise. To understand why, we’ll consider how they are often expressed.
Person 1: “I don’t feel like going to work today.”
Person 2: “Me either” (or “Me neither”).
Even though the wording is different, saying either or neither in this context will not change the meaning. The second person is simply agreeing that they also do not feel like working.
American English offers more-grammatical ways to respond. In our example, Person 2 could say one of the following:
“I do not want to go to work either.”
“Nor do I.”
“I also do not feel like working.”
The last response, although correct, may feel stilted to some native English speakers. If so, that may explain why phrases such as me either remain so prevalent, which brings us back to our original question:
Which Is Better: Me Either or Me Neither?
Although we would discourage the habit of using these phrases, our position is that me either is the better choice because either can be used inclusively. For example, you could say either hot fudge or caramel is a great choice if you were agreeing with someone’s opinions. Neither, on the other hand, is a negative word. Changing the statement to neither hot fudge nor caramel is a great choice makes it exclusive rather than inclusive.
When we say me either, we are agreeing with another person and including ourselves in their point of view. The phrase me either as a shortened version of I don’t think so, either or I also don’t think that (or want that) becomes the stronger option.
Me Either vs. Me Neither: Why These Phrases Matter
If most people understand us when we say me either or me neither, does it matter that we are not grammatically accurate? The answer lies in our own perspective. Although we might not be corrected for using these phrases, choosing to be more precise can promote greater grammar in communication; it can likewise enhance others’ sense of our refinement and professionalism.
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Another popular response is “same here,” meaning, “I feel the same way.”
It’s short and a lot less ambiguous than either/neither.
I grew up saying “Nor do I.”
It’s the same as saying “neither do I,” or “neither have I.” You would not say “either do I” to a response. Me neither!
I feel that neither is used to convey something said in the negative. For example, Person 1 says, “I don’t like pistachio ice cream,” and Person 2 responds “Me neither.”
Whereas, either can be simply used to convey a choice. For example, “We can have either roast beef or chicken for dinner; which do you prefer?”
These may not be grammatically correct, but as stated above, they are idiomatic phrases, which are not really subject to normal grammatical rules.
“Me either” uses “me” as the subject.
The first-person subject pronoun is “I.”
Therefore, “me either” seems grammatically incorrect.
As we mention in the post, we discourage the habit of using these phrases.
Me either is correct.
Either specifies that it is one of two things. Either one, or the other.
Neither specifies that it’s n(ot) either one.
Person A says they do not like something. There are two options: Like it or don’t like it.
Person B says “me either,” because they are choosing one of two things: liking it, or not liking it.
Saying “me neither” is incorrect because it states that you choose neither to like it, or dislike it.
To be grammatically correct, “me” should be “I do not.”
I do not like this vegetable.
“I do not, either.” is correct, not “I do not, neither.” Ergo “me either.”
As the post states, we discourage using these phrases; however, our position is that “me either” is the better choice in American English.
I disagree that “me either” is correct, because typically this phrase is a response to someone saying something negative (as stated in the article), so “either” couldn’t actually agree with the original statement.
For example: “I don’t want to go to work today.”
In order to properly convey that you are in agreement with that statement, it’s necessary to also have a negative in your response, which is why “neither” is the correct option.
So you can easily break the response down like this:
“I don’t want to go to work either.”
-or-
“I don’t either.”
-or-
“Me neither.”
But simply saying “me either” is kind of like replying to “I don’t want to go to work today” by saying “I do want to go to work either,” which obviously makes no sense.
As we mention in the post, we discourage the habit of using these phrases.
In a conversation, person A says “I don’t trust them” and person B replies “me either.” In this case, is person B saying “I don’t trust them either” or “you don’t trust me either”? Thanks.
The answer would be determined by the context of the conversation or the relationship. If persons A and B are engaging each other casually, person B’s response of “me either” may well mean “I don’t trust them either.” If on the other hand it has been established that persons A and B have experienced relational conflict, person B’s response could likely mean “you don’t trust me either.”
In my view “me either” is always incorrect, whereas “me neither” can be grammatically correct but in very specific cases only.
To agree with a negative statement in a grammatically correct way, I would use “I don’t either” or “Neither/nor do I.”
“Me, neither” can be used, when the speaker includes themselves with the object of a negative sentence. (She doesn’t like me. – Me neither/Nor me = Neither she likes me.)
As for the colloquial use, despite the subject/object confusion, which is the same with “me neither” and “me either,” the former makes more sense to me, as it expresses the refusal of all choices, thus encompassing them all, as opposed to “either,” which primarily expresses mutual exclusivity. Adding the fact that for “either” to be used as an agreement, you must use a negated form of the verb, which in this case is missing regardless of what is implied, I would strongly disagree with your recommendations in the article.
Our recommendation is to avoid using either phrase.