Question

Select the more effective use of correlative conjunctions to join these sentences.

The minister will not attend the meeting. The deacons won't attend either.

Not only the minister but also the deacons will not attend the meeting.
Neither the minister nor the deacons will attend the meeting.

Answer 1

The second sentence is more effective:

"Neither the minister nor the deacons will attend the meeting."

Reason: "Neither... nor..." is the standard correlative for linking two negatives. "Not only... but also..." is used to add or emphasize positive (or at least nonnegative) information and sounds awkward when combined with an overall negative statement ("will not attend"). Also note verb agreement: with "neither... nor..." the verb typically agrees with the nearer subject ("deacons" → plural), so "will attend" is correct.