Coordinating Conjunction “Nor" | (B-Level, Intermediate)
”Nor” — Showing Both Alternatives Are Untrue
We use the coordinating conjunction “nor” to combine sentences or ideas when both sentences are negative or untrue.
”Nor” is fairly formal. You will come across it mostly in formal contexts and in writing. You may hear someone say, for example, “I don’t have time to go, nor do I really wan to,” but you would be more likely to hear, “I don’t have time to go, and I don’t really want to.”
Examples using “nor” showing both statements are negative or untrue
Between two sentences
John is not married nor does he have a girlfriend..
Students should not cheat, nor should they help other students cheat.
I have never been there, nor do I plan ever to go there.
Within a sentence (usually with neither)
He neither reads nor writes very well.
He has neither call nor emailed us.
They drink neither coffee nor tea.
Attention
When you start a clause with a negative word in English, you must invert the subject and the auxiliary or verb to be (as you can see in the above examples). See these other examples,
I don’t own a house, nor do I really want to.
She hasn’t come to the party, nor has she explained why she missed it.
The weather is not great swimming, nor is it ideal for a hike.
Up Next: Coordinating Conjunction “Or” and “Or Else”
Go to the next lesson to learn about the uses of the coordinating conjunction “or” and “or else.”
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