We usebothto refer to two things or people together:
Boththose chairs are occupied, I’m afraid.(The two chairs are occupied.)
Arebothyour parents going to Chile?(Are your mother and father going to Chile?)
Bothwith nouns
Whenwe usebothbefore a determiner (e.g.a/an, the, her, his) + noun,bothandboth ofcan be used:
She knewboth my children.(or …both of my children.)
Both her brothersare living in Canada.(orBoth of her brothers …)
We can usebothbefore a noun:
This button startsboth enginesat the same time.(or …both of the engines …)
Arebothcatsfemale?
Bothwith pronouns
Pronoun +both
We can usebothafter a subject pronoun or an object pronoun:
We bothprefer classical music.
Let’s openthem bothnow.
Both of+ object pronoun
When we usebothas part of a subject or object which is a pronoun, it may be followed byof+ an object pronoun:
We bothdislike soap operas.(subject pronoun + both) orBothof usdislike soap operas. (both+of+ object pronoun)
She looked atboth of us.
We usually useboth of+ object pronoun after prepositions:
He shouted atboth of them.(preferred toHe shouted at them both.)
That’ll be so nicefor both of you.(preferred toThat’ll be so nice for you both.)
Bothas a pronoun
We can usebothon its own as a pronoun:
There are two youth hostels in the city.Bothare described as expensive, dirty, with poor lighting and poor security.
Applicants for this course must speak French or German, preferablyboth.
Both: position
Ifbothrefers to the subject of a clause, we can use it in the normal mid position for adverbs, between the subject and main verb, after a modal verb or the first auxiliary verb, or afterbeas a main verb:
Theyboth wantedto sell the house.(between the subject and the main verb)
Theyhad both been refusedentry to the nightclub.(after the first auxiliary or modal verb)
Theywere bothvery nice, kind and beautiful.(afterbeas a main verb)
Not:They both were very nice…
See also:
Adverbs
Bothin short answers
We usebothon its own in short answers:
A:Would you like something to drink?
B:A coffee and a tea, please.
A:Both?
B:Yeah, one for me and one for Brenda. She’s joining us in a minute.
A:Are you working on Monday or Wednesday next week?
B:Both!
Not:The both.
Both oforneither ofin negative clauses
We usually useneither ofrather thanboth of … notin negative clauses:
Neither ofthem can swim.(preferred toBoth of them can’t swim.)
Neither ofmy brothers lives at home any more.(preferred toBoth of my brothers don’t live at home any more.)
When a negative verb is used, we useeither (of). In informal speaking, we often use a plural verb aftereither, even though it is a singular word:
She didn’t likeeitherdress.(She looked at two dresses.)
A:Are Yvonne and Lesleybothcoming?
B:We don’t know ifeitherof them are coming. (or, more formally, …if either of themiscoming.)
See also:
Either
Both … andas a linking expression
We useboth…andto emphasise the link between two things. This makes a stronger connection thanandalone:
BothBritainandFrance agree on the treaty.(stronger link thanBritain and France agree on the treaty.)
She playedbothhockeyandbasketball when she was a student.(stronger link thanShe played hockey and basketball when she was a student.)
See also:
Conjunctions
Both: typical errors
We don’t usebothwith a negative verb; we useeitherinstead:
There wasnota considerable difference in percentages foreithersex in terms of having a Bachelor’s degree.
Not:There was not a considerable difference in percentages for both sex. …
When we use the verbbeas a main verb,bothcomes after the verb:
These films arebothfamous with people of all ages …
Not:These films both are famous…