word usage - What's the difference between "either" and "neither"?

What's the difference between either and neither?
Can you provide me some examples?

Answer

Either means any one of two possibilities, whereas neither means none of them.

For example:

John: Would you like something to drink?
Jane: Either Coke or Pepsi would be fine.

Here, Jane would like something to drink—specifically, John can get her a Coke or a Pepsi. Generally, either excludes both options—John should not get her both a Coke and a Pepsi.

However, if the conversation were to go along these lines:

John: Would you like coffee or tea?
Jane: Neither, thanks.

Here, Jane does not want any of the two options offered her—she does not want coffee, and she does not want tea.

Both either and neither should only be used when there are two options. If there are three or more, analogous words would be any and none.