Waiter: What will you order today sir? The chicken, beef, or fish?
Man: Either will do.
Waiter: But, there are three options.
Man: Yes, either will do. Either of the three options will do.
Waiter: Sir, I believe you mean 'any.' Any of the three will do.
Man: Umm, yeah. Any of the three will do.

Does this sound familiar? Having problems with 'either?' Teacher Stumpers can help you.

Either is a great word! It can be an adjective, pronoun, conjunction, or an adverb. It has many uses. Let's explore all of them today.

First, it's an adjective that means 'both':

There is a sidewalk on either side of the road.

I like either apartment. They are both really nice.

There is a difference with the verb and plural though:

Either class is important.

Both classes are important.

And when we use 'of' with 'either' the verb is different, too:

Either of the apartments are nice.

Either apartment is nice.

Either of … is most common in fiction and spoken English (according to the Corpus of Contemporary American English) It shows two options more strongly.

What about three choices?  It's best to use 'any':

Any of the hundreds of apartments in Osaka is fine.

Second, it's a pronoun that means 'one or the other':

I like cats and dogs. Either will be good pets.

There are two colors of flowers. Either is very pretty.

Third, it can be used as a conjunction to introduce two choices (informally, two or more) It needs another word 'or' to help it:

You can either take the last train home or get a taxi.

He is either in Osaka or in Tokyo.

She wants to either study in Europe or travel the world.

Please remember you need to balance the two parts of the choices:

They are meeting either at Nishinomiya Gardens or at Namba Parks.

But you can say the following informally:

They are meeting either at Nishinomiya Gardens or Namba Parks.

And finally 'either' can be used as an adverb that means 'as well' and is always used with a negative (not, n't):

He is not coming. I'm not coming either.

'I'm not coming either' sounds a little stronger. You use 'either' so the listener remembers that both of you will not come. It is also OK to say the following:

He is not coming. I'm not coming. (We both aren't coming.)

Can you make a sentence with 'either?' Try it in the comments below.

Special thanks to Karenne Sylvester for the idea for this post.  You can visit her at Kalinago English.

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