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I came up with sentences involving dependent clause ("that" clause) and/or negation with "nor" with varying degrees of complexity.

  1. He doesn't sing nor dance.

  2. I don't think he dances.

  3. I don't think he sings nor dances.

  4. I don't think he sings nor she dances.

  5. I don't think he sings French chanson or German Lied.

    • I (vaguely) recall that we can't use "nor" to connect nouns if it's under "not"

Are these all correct? Any advices would be appreciated. Thanks!

nodakai
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1 Answers1

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  1. Nor is classically preceded by neither, but not definitively (see this link). According to the preceding link and this post, nor may be used independently from neither. Based on those guidelines, either of the following would be ok for the first example:

    He doesn't sing nor dance.
    He neither sings nor dances.

  2. No issues here.

    I don't think he dances.

  3. This one is fine too.

    I don't think he sings nor dances.

  4. This one sounds a bit clunky. Refer to the link above, but it's more intelligible by adding a verb for the clause and the changing the tense.

    I don't think he sings, nor does she dances.

  5. Fine, but I think lied need not be capitalized.

    I don't think he sings French chanson or German lied.

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Minnow
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  • Thanks so much. Negation with dependent clause is confusing because English prefers to (almost mechanically) transform "A does V that B does not W" into "A does not V that B does W". I found the use of nor in "I don't think he sings, nor does she dances." a bit tricky because it should formally be a variation of "I don't V O1 or O2" in which neither neither nor nor is involved. – nodakai Nov 27 '14 at 01:50