| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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2. Style: Parallelism, Passives, Redundancy, and Wordiness
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| § 9. both |
| When you think about it, the conjunction both is often redundant. What exactly does both add to the meaning of this sentence: Both Jack and Jill fell down the hill? With as well as, both is even more redundant (if that’s possible): Both Jack as well as Jill fell down the hill. | 1 |
| Verbs such as agree and resemble render both superfluous in its use as a pronoun and adjective: Kevin and Conor both resemble their mother. Both researchers agree on this point. The adjective same has the same effect. The sentence They both have the same teacher is no different in meaning from They have the same teacher. | 2 |
| But sometimes the mysterious effect of rhythm and emphasis counts for more than frugality in the use of words. If you like the way both sounds in constructions such as these, go ahead and use it. | 3 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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