The Two Different Words for “Or”

If you have noticed that Egyptians use two different words for “or”…..congratulations! Five points for you!

Now let’s get down to business. There’s really only one rule that you need to keep in mind. It’s not 100% percent, and you will indeed hear exceptions (rarely), but the rule seems to be quite consistent.

Use ولا  for a question, and use  او for a statement.

We don’t have any fun facts for you today. No history of the two words, or grammatical systems that explain the rule. We don’t really care, honestly.

Just follow this rule, and you will be correct almost every single time.

Here are some examples for you.

Using “or” to ask a question

• Do you want to try on this shirt or this shirt?

تحبت التلبس القميص ده ولا القميص ده؟

• Here or “take away?”

• I will travel to Greece or Lebanon. I still don’t know.

• I will visit my family or I will return home.

• I eat chicken or meat. There’s no difference (to me).

Conclusion

So remember: use ولا  for a question, and use  او for a statement.

If you instead use  او when asking a question, or ولا when telling somebody something, it will sound weird, but Egyptians will understand you.

But you’re not going for “merely understood.”

You’re going for James Bond, spy language skills.

And when you use the correct form of “or,” you are well on your way.

…..

Happy learning,

Cleo Lingo