English language question...

[VJ]

Hello!

Silly thing came up... I said "My colleague is not coming on Thursday... or Friday". (with a pause on the ... and a bit of stress on the "or") I wanted to say that he is not coming on both days.

Question 1: is the above construction correct for this?

Question 2: could/should I have used "nor"?

Thanks!

[dZeus]

Your sentence could be interpreted as 'he doesn't come on either Thursday or Friday'.

If you want to make it clear it's both days, why not say "he's not coming on Thursday and Friday".... or: "he's not coming on Thursday nor on Friday".

[VJ]

Yes, that was the confusion, when I got the reply: "so you are not sure what day?"
The reason I said it like that was that I forgot initially it was two days, so I had to add Friday. Somehow, intuitively I used the word "or" rather than the more obvious "and" or "nor" (which both would not have caused confusion).

But from a grammatical point of view (not being native English speaking), is it correct with the interpretation of both days?

[Brian Ellis]

Hello!

Silly thing came up... I said "My colleague is not coming on Thursday... or Friday". (with a pause on the ... and a bit of stress on the "or") I wanted to say that he is not coming on both days.

Question 1: is the above construction correct for this?

Question 2: could/should I have used "nor"?

Thanks!

Your question is ambiguous.
Do you really mean "he is not coming on both days." or "he is not coming on either day."?

As it stands, it is the latter. Your ellipsis, pause and emphasis are not material, because they are not valid punctuation. Generally 'nor' follows 'neither', although there are exceptions. You could say, "He is coming on neither Thursday nor Friday": this is correct English but very formal and rarely used in spoken language. To insert a 'not' in this sentence would be bad, as you would have a double negative.

The easiest way round the "both" dilemma would be, "My colleague is not coming on Thursday and Friday", if this is what you really mean.

IMHO

[KRSESQ]

With the pause and the stress on "or" Friday, it might create the impression that you thought that if he wasn't coming on Thursday he would almost certainly come on Friday and the news that he is not coming on Friday is especially disappointing. Otherwise both grammar and usage are perfectly correct.

As to "or" or "nor:" The accepted pairing is "either/or" and "neither/nor." Either/or has an additive property ("either A or B can be the correct answer") whereas neither/nor is usually treated as subtractive ("neither A nor B are the correct answer").

In the absence of either/neither, in your example, or and nor can be interchangeable.

Now let's call the whole thing off.

[Brian Ellis]

Now let's call the whole thing off.

That depends on how you pronounce either/neither (I bet the allusion would be lost on the younger readers!)

OK, Hands up those who don't understand why KRSESQ added his last sentence!!!

[Umfriend]

That depends on how you pronounce either/neither (I bet the allusion would be lost on the younger readers!)

Of which we have how many on this forum exactly?

[cjolley]

Don't talk about when your colleague will come. (assuming the person you are corresponding with is not involved in the actual arrival)

Talk about when your colleague will be here:

My colleague will be here on either Thursday or Friday.
or
My colleague will be here on Thursday and Friday.

[cjolley]

Of which we have how many on this forum exactly?

Well, you for example

[Umfriend]

Thanks!

[Elie]

I would say, "My colleague will be away Thursday and Friday"