Different Ways of Agreeing to a Speaker's Negative Statement.



Different Ways of Agreeing to a Speaker's Negative Statement.
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.


Tamuno Reuben

Those who seek knowledge seek power because the pen is mightier than the sword.

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