I met with a problem in English.
It is a multiple choice.
Which of the following means"None/Neither of them is here"?
A. Each of them is not here.
B. Either of them is not here.
I believe B is right, but cannot tell the reason.
Would you please make the choice and give a reason?
C: Neither of them is here.
The answer above is so smart.
But how can you do this when there is no such a choice?
Perhaps you don't know it? 
Ok A is the correct answer
| Quote: |
| A. Each of them is not here. |
This implies that neither of them is present.
| Quote: |
B. Either of them is not here. |
This doesn't make sense,either means one or the other,it doesn't represent both. I agree that C is correct. I don't think he was being smart, that is the proper way to phrase it in English.
agreed with C.... 
Definately agree with C.
There's a problem with choice B. but I cannot tell the reason. :P
Though C would be grammatically right, since the choice is only between A and B,
I would agree with what truespeed has said.
The sentence A is actually implying that 'neither of them is here'
One is put in positive, the other in negative.
Implication is the same.
See, I don't understand the question becuase since it says Neither/None, that could be A or B.
I can explain what they mean.
| Quote: |
| Each of them is not here. |
This is the equivalent of they are not here. Them, being the group, and Each, being every member of the group.
| Quote: |
| Either of them is not here. |
This is the equivalent of saying One or the other is not here. But to me, this seems like a trick question, becuase if you think about it, it is also the equivalent of Neither of them is here.
Just use the Occam's Razor method. "All other parts being equal, the simple explanation is correct." A being the simplest explanation, I would say the answer is "A".
I think this is really long winded for the explanation of a multiple choice question, but whatever.
-Nick 
what multiple choice question is this? It sounds like someone has translated straight from another language, without considering grammar. None of them are correct, and neither is 'C'. 'D' is the correct way to say it.
I is right definitely yes
| truespeed wrote: |
| C: Neither of them is here. |
Surely "Neither of them are here". Am I missing something?i think you people missed the point with C. There is no C. it's either A or B. And from those options, i would have to say A. But i'm not english major.
Oh, if I had to choose either A or B then A would probably be more correct than B. But they are both awful in terms of grammar, it's just spotting technicalities.
I would go with A.
It says, 'Each of them is not here'. So, if you have a certain number of people, and consider each of them, they are not here. It is a twisted way of saying it, but it seems correct to me.
Whereas, B says 'Either of them is not here', it seems to says that out of the two people here, one or the other is not here.
yep i've changed my mind after you reiterated the question, i would have to go with 'A'.
Thank you all.
You know the multiple choice is so made that no other options can be added. It was from a test, and
only A or B is allowed here. 
This is what my student asked me. I want to tell her that English speaking people never speak in these ways. But I myself is curious about the correct answer. You are a English teacher , what you said is the right answer .
| snowynight wrote: |
Thank you all.
You know the multiple choice is so made that no other options can be added. It was from a test, and
only A or B is allowed here.
This is what my student asked me. I want to tell her that English speaking people never speak in these ways. But I myself is curious about the correct answer. |
Yep A is definitely correct.
Wow; i am happy that I can use these forum to learn my English too - I did not know the answer to that question and yet so many did that I can be sure of the correct one Thank you! u can used 2 way 
Both of the options in the original post are clumsy, and not really the preferred way to frame a sentence. Ideally, your sentence would be "Neither one of them is here". However, given the options, A would be correct.
Either implies "Either/or", such as "Either he is nor here, or he is". In this case though, your are explicitly being told to state that there is no one here.
The 'A' answer is the goodest one
A. Each of them is not here.
Each implies 'both'
Either implies one or the other.
I prefer A too...that sounds correct.
Considering your doubt and the options given..i would go for the option A..In my opinion option A is more grammatically correct and appropriate...!!!
I agree with the A option... Neither A nor B is grammatically correct.
I would go with A... 
