"me either"

Question

Is "yo tampoco" best translation?

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum! - Izanoni1, Feb 8, 2011

Answer 1

This will work in some cases, but it depends on the context (and whether the pronoun is the subject or indirect object of the sentence). For example:

As Subject Pronoun

?Person 1: No quiero ir de compras – I don't want to go shopping.
?Person 2: Yo tampoco – me neither.

As Indirect Object Pronoun

?Person 1: No me gusta ir de compras – I don't like going shopping (or "Shopping is not enjoyable to me").
?Person 2: A mí tampoco – me either (or "to me either").

Is "me either" English Iza ? - ian-hill, Feb 8, 2011

Nor to me either - is that not better ? - ian-hill, Feb 8, 2011

I would say that in the U.S. both "me neither" and "me either" would be commonly used (perhaps these expressions are only idiomatic of the U.S.). - Izanoni1, Feb 8, 2011

I suppose another option might be "I don't either," but then this would change the form of the answer asked about in the original post. - Izanoni1, Feb 8, 2011

You might also say "nor do I," "neither do I".....I think that "nor to me either" might often be shortened to either "nor (is it) to me" or "(it isn't) to me either" - Izanoni1, Feb 8, 2011

Thanks Izanoni I was wondering about this one for a while. - Dakie, Feb 8, 2011

Hey now you have 50 K ¡¡ awesome ¡¡ Congratulations ¡¡ - Dakie, Feb 8, 2011

No problem, Dakie...and thank you, too. :) - Izanoni1, Feb 8, 2011

Answer 2

In the UK "me either" is/was? considered to be a grammatical error. Either x or y is positive suggesting choice. Neither nor is the opposite meaning both are rejected.

Phillipa Foot the philosopher has written on the "either or" question.

Seemingly the malapropism "Me either" has become commonplace in the 'States. Still, one mustn't be too pedantic, language changes all the time.

Here's Garth Brooks : link text This new link = video seems available to all regions, the first link was restricted. That man can drive a tele!

Oh yeah, "Me neither" = Yo tampoco

You can say that again. Just look at "my bad". - Eddy, Feb 8, 2011

Been arounf for a while the whole grammatical basket I mean. How about, "It aint me what done it"? That's probably Victorian :-) - lagartijaverde, Feb 8, 2011

nice - margaretbl, Feb 8, 2011

Perfick ! - ian-hill, Feb 8, 2011

Answer 3

Me neither - it is a negative or Nor me.

Here, it is acceptable to respond to a statement like, "I don't want to go!" with either "me neither" or "me either." - webdunce, Feb 8, 2011

@Webdunce: I wonder (considering Ian's response) if this expression is only idiomatic of the United States - Izanoni1, Feb 8, 2011

Could be Iza - I teach - nor / neither and or / either ("me either" does sound strange to me) - ian-hill, Feb 8, 2011

Answer 4

In the UK "me either" is/was? considered to be a grammatical error. Either x or y is positive suggesting choice. Neither nor is the opposite meaning both are rejected.

To me, this would have to do more with situations where either/neither is considered to be part of a disjunctive correlative; however, in the expression "me either" (at least in the way that I am used to seeing it used) no such correlative occurs. Instead, it is a continuation of the previous statement which in this case is elided.

I suppose maybe it comes down to a question of viewpoint. For example, in the sentence "Shopping is not enjoyable to me," if one were to answer with the expression, "to me either" then what is occurring is an ellipses in which the first part of the original sentence has been omitted: (It's not enjoyable) *to me either** or *(nor is it enjoyable) to me either. ? to me either

From this viewpoint, if you were to use the word "neither," it would create a double negative (it's not enjoyable to me neither/nor to me neither).

Of course, it is also possible to look at the sentence from the viewpoint that the omission is more characteristic of a disjunctive pair: (It's not enjoyable to you and) neither (is it enjoyable) to me. ? to me neither

I suppose that this difference in viewpoint is what gives rise to the two different phrasings (in American English).