HOW TO USE “BOTH, EITHER, NEITHER, EVERY, AND EACH”

HOW TO USE “BOTH, EITHER, NEITHER, EVERY, AND EACH”

1: HOW TO USE “BOTH, EITHER, NEITHER”

If we are talking about two people or things, we use the quantifiers both, either and neither:

One supermarket	Two supermarkets	More than two supermarkets
The supermarket was closed.	Both the supermarkets were closed.	All the supermarkets were closed.
The supermarket wasn’t open.	Neither of the supermarkets was open.	None of the supermarkets were open.
I don’t think the supermarket was open.	I don’t think either of the supermarkets was open.	I don’t think any of the supermarkets were open.

Note that nouns with both have a plural verb but nouns with either and neither have a singular verb.

2: HOW TO USE “EVERY AND EACH”

We use the quantifiers every and each with singular nouns to mean all:

There was a party in every street. (= There were parties in all the streets.)
Every shop was decorated with flowers. (= All the shops were decorated with flowers.)
Each child was given a prize. (= All the children were given a prize.)
There was a prize in each competition. (= There were prizes in all the competitions.)

We often use every to talk about times like days, weeks and years:

When we were children, we had holidays at our grandmother's every year.
When we stayed at my grandmother's house, we went to the beach every day.

For example:
We visit our daughter every Christmas.

We do not use a determiner with every and each:

For example:

Every shop was decorated with flowers. (NOT The every shop)
Each child was given a prize. (NOT The each child)

Each student has a dictionary.

Each teacher has his own lesson plan.

Each worker has to perform the work.

Related information about quantifiers:

The English quantifiers

The large quantifiers

The small quantifiers

The neutral and relative quantifiers