Not and nor

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Talking about the old cliche about useless meteorological services and inaccuracy of popular weather predictions, I wanted to say "¿qué voy a hacer si no puedo confiar en el servicio meterológico ni en las creencias populares?".

But I'm having a mental blockage and I can't decide which sentence would be correct:
- What will I do if I can't trust the meteorological service nor the popular beliefs?
- What will I do if I can't trust the meteorological service or the popular beliefs?
- What will I do if I can't trust either the meteorological service nor the popular beliefs?

...or none?


Thank you for any help to review this side of grammar.

[Peter]

I'd say the first two are both correct, but in the third sentence I would use 'or' in stead of 'nor'. Another possibility is:
"What will I do if I can trust neither the met.. nor the pop..

Peter

[Rusty]

Maybe this will help. From that site:

Either means one, neither means none, and not either equals neither. Or goes with either and nor goes with neither.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

- What will I do if I can't trust the meteorological service nor the popular beliefs?
- What will I do if I can't trust the meteorological service or the popular beliefs?
- What will I do if I can't trust either the meteorological service nor the popular beliefs?

...or none?

One thing is for sure. You can't have a nor without a neither. I personally would say:

What will I do if I can trust neither the meteorological service nor the popular beliefs?

I'm not totally sure about @Rusty's link:

He doesn't speak either English or French.

Correct, but I much prefer He speaks neither English nor French. Perhaps this is just my prejudice

Neither... nor is equivalent to not... either... or.

If that statement is always true, then I will neither help you nor go to my room is correct, and so is I will not either help you or go to my room. To me, the second one is clearly wrong.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Thank you all!

@Rusty: Thank you for the link... I will be writing some exercises to make sure I get it right.

@Perikles: Thank you for the explanation. This has always been tricky for me.

[Peter]

@Perikles, I believe it is correct to use 'nor' at the beginning of a sentence (or a clause) without neither.
"I can't trust the meteorological service, nor can I trust the popular beliefs."

"What will I do if I can't trust the meteorological service, nor trust the popular beliefs", however, sounds weird.. Any ideas?