hvorugur

Neither of Two (Hvorugur)

Level 5

Hvorugur bræðranna kom. (Neither of the brothers came.) hvorugur is only used for two.

How It Works

Forms. hvorugur declines like an adjective:

  • Masculine: hvorugur, hvorugan, hvorugum, hvorugs
  • Feminine: hvorug, hvoruga, hvorugri, hvorugrar
  • Neuter: hvorugt, hvorugt, hvorugu, hvorugs

Three ways to use it.

  • With a genitive plural: hvorugur bræðranna (neither of the brothers), hvorug systranna (neither of the sisters).
  • With a pronoun in the genitive: hvorugur okkar, hvorugt þeirra (neither of us, neither of them).
  • Straight before a noun: hvorugt liðið (neither team).

Gender. Two men take hvorugur, two women hvorug. A man and a woman, or two things of different genders, take the neuter hvorugt, just like þau and bæði.

Case. hvorugur takes the case of its place in the sentence: Ég þekki hvorugan þeirra (I don't know either of them).

No ekki. hvorugur already means "not either", so do not add ekki. The verb is singular: Hvorugur kom.

Two or more? For more than two, use enginn: Enginn þeirra kom. Compare hvor (which of two), báðir (both) and hvorki ... né (neither ... nor).

Examples (6)

  1. Hvorugur bræðranna kom.

    Neither of the brothers came.

    Word by Word: Neither of-the-brothers came.

  2. Hvorugt liðið skoraði mark.

    Neither team scored a goal.

    Word by Word: Neither the-team scored goal.

  3. Hvorug systranna talar dönsku.

    Neither of the sisters speaks Danish.

    Word by Word: Neither of-the-sisters speaks Danish.

  4. Ég þekki hvorugan þeirra.

    I don't know either of them.

    Word by Word: I know neither (ACC) of-them.

    hvorugan is accusative because it is the object.

  5. Hvorugt okkar hafði komið til Akureyrar áður.

    Neither of us had been to Akureyri before.

    Word by Word: Neither of-us had come to Akureyri before.

    The neuter hvorugt is used for a man and a woman together.

  6. Hvora bókina viltu? — Hvoruga.

    Which book do you want? — Neither.

    Word by Word: Which-of-two the-book want-you? — Neither.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding ekki as well.

    Hvorugur þeirra kom ekki.
    Hvorugur þeirra kom.

    hvorugur already contains the negative. With ekki the sentence stops meaning "neither came".

  • Using the masculine for a man and a woman.

    Jón og Anna? Hvorugur þeirra kom.
    Jón og Anna? Hvorugt þeirra kom.

    A mixed pair takes the neuter hvorugt.

  • Using the nominative plural after hvorugur.

    Hvorugur bræðurnir kom.
    Hvorugur bræðranna kom.

    Put the group in the genitive plural: bræðranna means "of the brothers".

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

hvorugurLevel 5Neither of Two (Hvorugur)

Learn This First

hvorugur builds on hvor and hvorki ... né.

Words in This Pattern

hvorugur