Disjunctive coordinating conjunctions (conjunções coordenativas disjuntivas) express an idea of choice or alternative, i.e. that only one of the parts of the sentence can be true. The most obvious example is: ouor
Eu fico em casa, ou vou à ruaI'll stay at home or I'll go to the street
Here are some other examples:
- ora…ora (sometimes…and other times)
- quer…quer (whether…or)
- ou…ou (either…or)
Sentence examples:
A avó ora educa, ora mimaThe grandmother sometimes disciplines and sometimes spoils.
Vamos embora, quer queiras quer nãoWe're leaving, whether you want it or not
Comments
Can ora be used instead of As vezes, or just in cases of ora….ora?
Only in cases of ‘ora… ora’, as you put it 🙂
I’m a little confused…in the notes I see quer…quer as “either … or” but the example below shows “ou….ou”. I assume both are equally acceptable?
Ah, thank you for asking, Karen. The note wasn’t entirely clear – “quer…quer” is closer to “whether/or” than to “either/or”, so it’s not quiiite the same as “ou…ou”. I’ve just updated the article 🙂
Hi, “ora . . . ora . . . ,” I think this maybe better translates as “sometimes . . . and other times . . .”
Sure, that also works. Thanks 🙂
Trying to get my head around the ‘quer….quer’ which I’ve not consciously ever heard. Can you give a few more examples using some different verbs? Thanks 🙂
Sure 🙂 Some extra examples:
– Quer seja de autocarro, quer seja de comboio, é uma longa viagem. (Whether it’s by bus or by train, it’s a long trip)
– A receita sai bem quer use açúcar, quer adoçante. (The recipe comes out well whether you use sugar or sweetener)
In the long trip example, is the “quer” necessary? I feel like I’ve just seen or heard “seja…seja” or even “seja…ou” more commonly.
“Quer” is not necessary – it can be added or omitted at will in this context 🙂 Both “seja/seja” and “seja/ou” are common and acceptable shorter alternatives.
I just realised looking at the examples above that quer..quer trigger the use of the subjunctive. I don’t think the subjunctive has been explained at this stage of the course yet. Does the subjunctive come up soon after this module?
Olá! The subjunctive is a much more advanced topic, and the units related to it only appear in B2 level. However, we decided to still mention “quer…quer” since it is a coordinating conjunction, after all.