Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <difference><conjunctions><negation>
Title: What is the difference between "me neither" and "me either"?
Question: I want to know the difference between "me neither" and "me either", are both correct?

Answers:
sents: text: In colloquial spoken language some people use me neither in place of
text: neither do I. A-
text: I don't like getting up in the morning.
text: B-
text: Neither do I. /Me
text: neither.
text: In the US some people will also use me either in that case: A-
text: I don't like getting up in the morning.
text: B- Me either.
text: But this is very informal and not to be used in a learning environment where I would stick to
text: neither do I .
text: You could find "me either" used in a sequence in a sentence like: A-
text: This does not seem very clear.
text: B-
text: It doesn't seem clear to me either.
text: To answer subsidiary question asked in comment about the pronunciation of either and neither: The letters [ei] in both words can either be pronounced /aɪ/ or /i/ .
text: And to my knowledge this is not a UK vs US difference, although I think /i/ is more frequent in the US, /ˈaɪðə/ and /ˈnaɪðə/ can both be heard in the UK.
text: The question was asked a few years ago on ELU with lots of detailed answers.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/2818/None
score: 35
sents: text: As stated in the other answers, “Me neither” can be used instead of “
text: Neither do I” or “Nor I”.
text: It's the equivalent of “Me too” or “So do I”, but used after a negative sentence.
text: It's used to change the subject of a sentence to the speaker.
text: In most cases, “Me either” isn't a phrase in its own right.
text: Usually, the two words are separated by a comma or pause.
text: “either” works like “also” and “too”, but again is used with negative sentences.
text: It's a discursive marker.
text: “Me neither” can also be considered equivalent to “I don't, either”.
text: Here are some examples: A: I don't like her.
text: B:
text: Me neither. and A
text: : She doesn't like me.
text: B
text: : She doesn't like me, either.
text: If B says “Me neither.”
text: in the last example, they are at risk of sounding as if they are saying “I don't like you, either.”.
text: Probably, the sentences that use “I” to replace the subject (“neither do I”, “I don't either”) are safer to use for an English learner than those that use “me” to replace the subject (“me neither”).
text: The opposite rule goes for replacing the object.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/5094/James Wood
score: 9
sents: text: Either and neither are very similar and very different at the same time.
text: Either and neither both give option between two choices (ie.
text: I can take either this cookie or that cookie.
text: Neither of the cookies look tasty).
text: The big difference is that neither is the negative form of either .
text: Where either is inclusive, neither is exclusive.
text: Imagine it like this
text: (I will borrow from one of the other comments for the examples):
text: A-
text: I don't like getting up in the morning.
text: B-
text: Neither do I. /Me
text: neither.
text: In this case the statement is negative for the narrative (No I don't like getting up in the morning).
text: Additionally you can look at it as exclusive.
text: You are excluding yourself from the group of people who like getting up in the morning.
text: A-
text: I don't like getting up in the morning.
text: B- Me either.
text: In this case me either is colloquially correct but technically wrong because the statement is negative A-
text: This does not seem very clear.
text: B-
text: It doesn't seem clear to me either.
text: Statement A here is positive because you can agree (yes, it does seem to be not clear)
text: In this case either is correct because you are including yourself in the people who think "this" does not seem very clear.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/13720/Bradley Scott Memmott
score: 5
sents: text: There's not a huge difference – they both mean about the same thing and can be used interchangeably in most circumstances.
text: A look at the Google Ngram results for them
text: I think shows that their history is closely tied together between they pretty much mean the same thing.
text: While usage varies between speakers and regions, of course, generally if the statement being agreed with is a response to a question or request, me
text: neither is used: Question: Terry:
text: Would you like coke or pepsi?
text: Alex: Neither, thank you.
text: Kris:
text: Me neither.
text: However, if the response is in agreement to a negative statement, then me either is more common, generally.
text: Negative statement: Terry: I didn't like the movie last night.
text: Alex: Me either.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/9911/dantiston
score: 2
sents: text: I am English and prefer to say "me neither" because it is much more logical than me either.
text: The N in neither indicates "No".
text: I think it sounds better
text: but this is what I have been used to living in England for 57 years.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/82897/Alana Stone
score: 2
sents: text: The response "Me either" seems incorrect to me.
text: It's makes no sense as a negative response.
text: For example, in this scenario: Terry: Would you like coke or pepsi?
text: Alex:
text: Neither, thanks.
text: Kris: Me either.
text: If I were Terry I would be serving Kris either a coke or pepsi before they could say anything about it!
text: ;-))
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/19055/Neil Gibson
score: 1
sents: text: "Me either" should be slapped out of someone's mouth, if using the same way as "me neither".
text: It may be more common in some places than in others, but that doesn't make it correct, OR acceptable!
text: The comma example would be an acceptable exception; even though it would still sound weird.
text: I.E. "Would you like a Coke or a Pepsi?
text: " "Me, either.
text: " Still seems it should be separated into "Me?
text: Either."
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/99556/Steve K.
score: 0
sents: text: I have learned that you should use "either" when there is already a negation in sentence.
text: E.g. "I don’t like it either.
text: " Don’t is a negation so either would be used.
text: On the other hand if I want to say a shorter version. "... me neither.
text: " You convey negation with the word "neither" as there are no other elements in your sentence with the negation of your statement.
text: That is the one simple and logic explanation in grammar that always stuck to me.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/106068/Juan
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
English people would say "me neither" because it is much more logical than me either.  It is said that you should use "either" when there is already a negation in sentence. The big difference is that  neither  is the negative form of  either . Some people consider them to be interchangeble. Others beleve that "me either" is simply wrong.
Me either' is incorrect and can only be used in this way when there is already negation. It's best to use 'me neither'.