French word

ou

Pronunciation

IPA/u/

Meaning

  • conjunctionor

Example

Tu pars maintenant ou tu préfères rester ?

Are you leaving now, or would you rather stay?

Illustration for ou (or)

More examples

Veux-tu du café ou du thé ?

Do you want coffee or tea?

Core concept

A verbal fork where a sentence opens one path or another.

Common phrases

  • ou bien

    or alternatively

  • ou alors

    or else

Similar words

ou bien: Strongly presents one choice from several possible options.
ou alors: Introduces an alternative choice or possibility.
sinon: Indicates another situation or proposal if the preceding condition does not apply.
ni: Links two choices in a negative statement to indicate that neither applies.

Definition in French

S'utilise pour présenter une alternative entre deux éléments ou davantage.

Word origin

French ou derives from Latin aut through Old French forms including o and ou, while retaining the function of marking an alternative.

Usage tips

  • The conjunction ou has no accent; où means 'where', although both words are pronounced /u/.

Opposites

  • etandconjunction

Word lists with this word