Is this sentence correct?
- You will not be allowed to do neither the non-graded nor the graded assignment of week one unless you complete this activity.
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In order for us to know if this correctly represents what you want it to express, you will need to include an alternative description of what it is meant to mean. It's not all that clear what it means as it's currently written.– KillingTimeAug 19, 2020 at 12:52
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What I mean is that the students should do the activities otherwise they will not be allowed to do the assignments. Does it make sense now?– user396194Aug 19, 2020 at 12:55
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Welcome to ELU. You might take a look at this question and accepted answer: english.stackexchange.com/questions/39040/… .– rajah9Aug 19, 2020 at 13:12
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1I am not used to seeing not with neither/nor. The neither and nor already have an implicit not. I might rephrase to: "Unless you complete this activity, you will be allowed to do neither the non-graded nor the graded assignment of week one."– rajah9Aug 19, 2020 at 13:14
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2It should be "You will not be allowed to do either the non-graded or the graded assignment of week one unless you complete this activity."– Ram PillaiAug 19, 2020 at 13:57
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1 Answer
Technically, the sentence
You will not be allowed to do neither the non-graded nor the graded assignment of week one unless you complete this activity
could be considered correct as is, but it would have a rather unexpected meaning. It would mean: if you complete the activity, you'll be allowed to do neither the non-graded nor graded assignment; if you don't complete it, you will have to do at least one of them.
However, based on the obvious intended meaning (i.e. if you complete the activity, you'll be allowed to do one or both of the assignments; if you don't, you won't be allowed to do either of them), it should be either:
You will not be allowed to do either the non-graded or the graded assignment of week one unless you complete this activity
or
You will be allowed to do neither the non-graded nor the graded assignment of week one unless you complete this activity
Unless you want to sound very formal, the first of these two versions sounds better ("You will not be allowed to do either the non-graded or the graded assignment...").
In some dialects of English and in very colloquial usage, the original sentence could in fact express your intended meaning (cf "you ain't seen nothing yet") - but such usage would be considered non-standard and would be strenuously avoided in this kind of relatively formal context (the rules for assessment).
