TGIF! If someone tells you they're not sad that the workweek is coming to a close, you'd (probably) respond with today's subject line: "Me neither."

Or you might say, "Me either," but that phrase is less precise. What you really mean is, "I am not sad that the workweek is ending either," so you need the "n" to keep the negative context.

That's our first lesson — or reminder — for the series we're kicking off today on either and neither. We'll ease you in with this quiz:

It appears from last week's quiz results that most of you are pretty good at compound possessives.

A clear majority of you got it right: If John and I have shared ownership of a set of books, they are John's and my books. There are a couple of rules governing this construction:

1. Even though there is shared ownership of the books, when you combine nouns with pronouns in a compound possessive, each one needs to be possessive. However, if you use nouns for each person who owns the books, you would only make the second possessive: "John and Tania's books."
2. "My and John's books" is technically correct, but we generally put ourselves last in a list, so the preferred construction is "John's and my books."

Of course, when something is correct but awkward, you can consider rewording the sentence.

A reader submission inspired this question! Submit your editing challenge here, and we might cover it in a future newsletter.

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