So, neither and either short responses

## Level and focus

**Level:** B1  
**Category:** Ellipsis and responses

Use so, neither and either to agree with affirmative and negative statements.

By the end of this lesson, learners should be able to: **Form short agreement responses with auxiliary inversion and negative agreement patterns.**

## Core idea

This lesson adds a recommended grammar point that improves the coverage of the curriculum without changing the overall CEFR progression. Learners should first recognise the pattern, then practise controlled examples, and only later combine it with adjacent grammar.

## Form

- `So + auxiliary + subject: So do I`

• Neither + auxiliary + subject: Neither can I

• subject + auxiliary + not + either: I can't either

• choose auxiliary from the first sentence

  Meaning and use

  Use this grammar when the speaker needs the meaning described in the lesson goal. The examples should stay close to the level and should not rely on advanced vocabulary or several new grammar points at once.

  Examples

  • I love coffee. — So do I.

• She can't drive. — Neither can I.

• I didn't enjoy it. — I didn't either.

• He is tired. — So am I.

  Common mistakes

  • Using so for negative agreement: not I don't like it. So do I; use I don't like it. Neither do I / I don't either.

• Forgetting inversion after so/neither: not So I do; use So do I.

• Using the wrong auxiliary: not She is tired. So do I; use She is tired. So am I.

  Teaching sequence

  1. Start with a clear contrast between two forms or meanings.
  2. Give short controlled examples with familiar vocabulary.
  3. Include one item that targets a common mistake.
  4. Add mixed review items that distinguish this point from a neighbouring lesson.
  5. End with simple sentence-level production or recognition.

  Boundary: what not to cover here

  Keep this to short conversational responses. Broader ellipsis and substitution remain C1.

  Suggested practice

  For the current exercise system, use 25 multiple-choice exercises. Include clear distractors that test the target grammar, not obscure vocabulary. Later, this lesson can be expanded with gap-fill, error-correction or transformation tasks.

Quick check

Before you move on, can you explain the rule in one sentence and make one example of your own?