Page 137 - English for Writing Research Papers

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6.20 Distinguishing between both … and, and either … or

Both … and is inclusive. either … or is exclusive.
S1. We studied both English and Spanish.
S2. You can study either English or Spanish.

S1 means that we studied English and we studied Spanish.

S2 means that you can only study one language. You cannot study English and
Spanish. You can study English or you can study Spanish.

S3. You cannot study both Russian and Korean.
S4. You cannot study either Russian or Korean.

S3 means that you have to choose between Russian and Korean. You can only study
one of the two languages.

S4 means that these two languages are not offered. Neither of them can be studied.

The position of both can change the meaning. Note the difference between these
two sentences:

S5. This is true both for the students and the professors.
S6. This is true for both the students and the professors.

In S5 there are several students (and professors) involved, in S6 there are only two

students and an undefined number of professors.
In S7 just two parks are being referred to, whereas in S8 there is an unknown num-
ber of parks.

S7. We had fun in both the parks we visited and also the museums.
S8. We had fun both in the parks and the museums.