Barbara Rowell on Grammarly Answers of "and" and "or" with a "negative verb" ?? <p> For the sentence &quot;The squamous architecture is mature, without dysplasia <i>or</i>&nbsp;single-cell atypia.&quot; is the use of &quot;or&quot; incorrect (have a bunch of doctors that form sentences using &quot;negative&quot; verbs but use &quot;or&quot; in the last half of the sentence). &nbsp;That is, shouldn&#39;t the article used here be &quot;and&quot; when you are trying to state that none of these things are found in the specimen. &nbsp; Also, for example, they will dictate &quot;The specimen is without abnormality, free of atypia or malignancy.&quot; and I believe that sentence should be written &quot; of atypia <em>and</em> malignancy.&quot; to accurately state what they are trying to say (i.e., there is no atypia and there is no malignancy in the specimen).</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Could I get the answer to whether or not the article &quot;and&quot; should be used instead of &quot;or&quot; when a negative verb is used, followed by a &quot;list&quot; of things that are being excluded.</p> <p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/40619-use-of-and-and-or-with-a-negative-verb/">Aug 15 &#39;13 at 17:57</a> by <a href="/answers/users/224083/barbara-rowell" class="profile">Barbara Rowell</a>, New member</small></p> <h3>1 answer</h3> <p> That&#39;s a good question, Barbara.&nbsp; I think that the negative <em>vibe</em> of the sentence is throwing you off.&nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> The subject matter is a bit above my head, but I can tell you that the choice between &quot;<em>or</em>&quot; and &quot;<em>and</em>&quot; depends on whether you need both or only one to satisfy some condition.&nbsp; In this instance the condition is maturity.&nbsp; I suspect that either one is a sign of maturity and both are not required to be considered mature.&nbsp; However, to be considered free of abnormality, both must be absent.&nbsp; That is why they use <em>and</em> sometimes and <em>or </em>other times.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Let&#39;s put it into a simpler context that is easier for me to follow.&nbsp; We&#39;ll talk about fruit.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> I am teaching my child how to go shopping at the market.&nbsp; I have told him to make sure he gets some fruit.&nbsp;</p> <p> (1) Any fruit will do, but <em>his favorite fruits are bananas and apples</em>.&nbsp;</p> <p> (2) He comes back and I see the basket is <em>empty, without bananas or apples.</em></p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> I give him new instructions and tell him he must get at least two types of fruit.&nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> (3) I remind him that his <em>favorite fruit is a banana or an apple</em> and suggest he get both.</p> <p> (4)&nbsp; He comes back with strawberries and peaches in his basket, but<em> without bananas and apples.&nbsp; </em></p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> These sentences show all of the combinations - positive and negative as you call it, with <em>and </em>or <em>or</em>.&nbsp;</p> <p> In sentence (1), I am detailing what his favorite fruits (plural) are, so I need to include both with <em>and</em>.&nbsp;</p> <p> Sentence (2) has a negative (empty, without) connotation, but only one of those items needs to be included to change it to positive.&nbsp; If the basket had a banana in it, it would not be empty.</p> <p> Sentences (3) and (4) flip these around.&nbsp; First I am describing that a single thing (favorite fruit) is one of two things, so I use <em>or</em>.&nbsp; Then the condition we are expecting (both bananas and apples) has not been met.&nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> I hope that helps.</p> <p><small>answered <a href="/answers/questions/40619-use-of-and-and-or-with-a-negative-verb/#answer_29265">Aug 15 &#39;13 at 23:23</a> by <a href="/answers/users/24140/patty-t" class="profile">Patty T</a>, Grammarly Fellow</small></p>