ChatGerman – Learn German with Videos, AI Practice & Interactive Subtitles

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Let's talk about a useful German conjunction.

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Entweder oder.

Either or.

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In English, either or.

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Which means we have two parts.

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In German, we call it a so-called two-part conjunction.

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Eine zweiteilige Konjunktion.

A two-part conjunction.

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Which means you have two alternatives to choose from.

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We have Option A und Option B.

We have Option A and Option B.

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EITHER OR.

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ENTWEDO ODO.

EITHER OR.

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Was special about this conjunction?

What's special about this conjunction?

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It can be used in two different situations.

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In both situations we have to choose between A or B,

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but you can use it either with just one verb,

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or meaning the same verb in both sentence parts,

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or with two different verbs.

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Let's start with the same verb,

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verb, which is not only the more common option but also the easier one.

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Option A ist ein Kaffee und Option B ist eine Tasse Tee.

Option A is a coffee and Option B is a cup of tea.

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So you could say for example, ich trinke morgens entweder einen Kaffee oder einen Tee.

So you could say for example, I drink either a coffee or a tea in the morning.

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In the morning I drink either a coffee or a tea.

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This morgens, this S there, additionally, this means this is actually an adverb.

This 'morgens', this 's' there, additionally, this means this is actually an adverb.

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It means every morning, morgens.

It means every morning, 'morgens'.

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In terms of sentence structure, it's quite straightforward.

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We have a normal main clause, which means the conjugated verb is on second position.

We have a normal main clause, which means the conjugated verb is in the second position.

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Ich trinke.

I drink.

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Then morgens.

Then 'morgens'.

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then we have Entweder Option A, einen Kaffee, oder plus Option B, which is einen Tee.

Then we have either Option A, a coffee, or Option B, which is a tea.

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Now you can actually also start this sentence with Entweder.

Now you can actually also start this sentence with 'Entweder'.

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And then it would be Entweder trinke ich morgens einen Kaffee oder einen Tee.

And then it would be: Either I drink coffee or tea in the morning.

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So you see the ending is actually exactly the same,

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but in the beginning we change kind of the position with the subject and this Entweder.

but in the beginning, we change kind of the position with the subject and this 'entweder'.

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The more common option is starting with the subject, like in option A.

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But you have the option also to kind of change the sentence structure and start with entweder.

But you have the option also to kind of change the sentence structure and start with 'entweder'.

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And then the verb trinke and then the subject comes right after the verb, before this morgens, this time information.

And then the verb 'trinke', and then the subject comes right after the verb, before this 'morgens', this time information.

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Machen wir ein paar andere Beispiele Let do some other examples Das ist Gabi und Gabi she needs to go to see a dentist but she not so amused about this So Gabi geht entweder am Montag oder am Dienstag zum Zahnarzt

Let's do some other examples. This is Gabi, and Gabi needs to go to see a dentist, but she's not so amused about this. So Gabi geht entweder am Montag oder am Dienstag zum Zahnarzt.

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Gabi geht entweder am Montag, Option A, oder am Dienstag, Option B, zum Zahnarzt.

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Gabi is going to the dentist either on Monday or Tuesday.

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Or, two famous German cities.

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The first one on the left is Köln with the famous Kölner Dom and the bridge.

The first one on the left is Köln, with the famous Kölner Dom and the bridge.

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And this one here is Berlin.

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So you could say, am Wochenende könnten wir entweder nach Berlin oder nach Köln fahren.

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Am Wochenende könnten wir entweder nach Berlin oder nach Köln fahren.

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Wir können either go to Berlin or Cologne this weekend.

We can either go to Berlin or Cologne this weekend.

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Another option. Das ist Julia.

Another option. This is Julia.

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Und sie will either buy a new cell phone or a new bicycle.

And she wants to either buy a new cell phone or a new bicycle.

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Auf Deutsch. Entweder kauft Julia ein neues Fahrrad oder ein neues Handy.

In German. Entweder kauft Julia ein neues Fahrrad oder ein neues Handy.

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So here we start with entweder.

So here we start with 'entweder'.

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Entweder kauft Julia ein neues Fahrrad oder ein neues Handy.

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Julia will either buy a new bicycle or a new cell phone.

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This was Situation 1.

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Let's go to Situation 2, when we use two different verbs.

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We have still Option A und Option B.

We still have Option A and Option B.

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For this example here, we take Option A is Home Office.

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Arbeiten von zu Hause.

Working from home.

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Und Option B is a normal office, ein Büro.

And Option B is a normal office, ein Büro.

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So you could say, for example, am Freitag arbeite ich entweder von zu Hause oder ich gehe ins Büro.

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On Friday, I either work from home or go to the office.

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We actually also use home office in German, home office, this expression as well.

We actually also use 'home office' in German, 'home office', this expression as well.

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So you could change this sentence, which is also commonly used to something like this.

So you could change this sentence, which is also commonly used, to something like this.

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Am Freitag mache ich, with machen, very simple, mache ich entweder home office oder gehe ins Büro.

On Friday, I either work from home or go to the office.

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In terms of sentence structure here, we have two different verbs.

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Verb Nummer eins ist arbeiten und das Verb Nummer zwei ist gehen.

Verb number one is 'arbeiten' and verb number two is 'gehen'.

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So zwei verschiedene Verben, two different verbs.

So two different verbs, two different verbs.

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And we still have two options.

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Von zu Hause ist Option A und ins B ist Option B Now what is special here in this sentence You see this Ich there I put this in brackets

From home is Option A and to the office is Option B. Now, what is special here in this sentence? You see this 'ich' there? I put this in brackets.

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Why?

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Because you can actually drop it.

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You can omit it.

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The reason is because the subject is the same in both sentence parts.

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So you can omit it in the second part.

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And this is also the more common version because it's shorter.

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So both is correct.

So both are correct.

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You can say, am Freitag arbeite ich entweder von zu Hause oder ich gehe ins Büro.

You can say, on Friday I work either from home or I go to the office.

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Or, you can say, am Freitag arbeite ich entweder von zu Hause oder gehe ins Büro.

Or, you can say, on Friday I work either from home or go to the office.

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Both are correct. Again, without this ich, the second ich is more commonly used.

Both are correct. Again, without this second 'ich' is more commonly used.

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Some other examples, andere Beispiele.

Some other examples, other examples.

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Das bin ich beim Kochen.

That's me cooking.

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Heute Abend koche ich entweder Nudeln oder ich bestelle eine Pizza.

Tonight I will either cook noodles or order a pizza.

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Heute Abend koche ich entweder Nudeln oder ich bestelle eine Pizza.

Tonight I will either cook noodles or order a pizza.

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Tonight I will either cook pasta or order a pizza.

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Two different verbs, kochen und bestellen.

Two different verbs, 'kochen' and 'bestellen'.

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Option A sind Nudeln und Option B ist Pizza.

Option A is noodles and Option B is pizza.

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Hier ist important side note in terms of Nudeln.

Here's an important side note regarding 'Nudeln'.

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Nudeln are literally translated noodles, normal flat noodles.

'Nudeln' are literally translated as noodles, normal flat noodles.

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But in most situations when we use Nudeln, we actually talk about pasta in general.

But in most situations when we use 'Nudeln', we actually talk about pasta in general.

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So this could be either spaghetti, fettuccini, linguine, tagliatelle, pappardelle, cappellini, germanolini, deutscholini.

So this could be either spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine, tagliatelle, pappardelle, cappellini, germanolini, deutscholini.

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Of course, the last two ones, they do not exist.

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But just to tell you, when we talk about Nudeln in most situations, we just mean pasta in general.

But just to tell you, when we talk about 'Nudeln' in most situations, we just mean pasta in general.

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It doesn't only have to be Italian pasta, it can also be any kind of flat noodles like

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Ramen or Udong noodles from Asian countries.

Ramen or udon noodles from Asian countries.

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So everything is possible.

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Ein anderes Beispiel.

Another example.

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Du kannst mir entweder eine Nachricht schicken oder du kannst mich später anrufen.

You can either send me a message or you can call me later.

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Hier, special, we see actually there are three verbs, because we use a modal verb können.

Here, special, we actually see there are three verbs, because we use a modal verb 'können'.

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Das Modalverb können.

The modal verb 'können'.

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And this is, you also see it here again in the brackets.

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Here you can drop this second, du kannst also, because it's exactly the same like in the first part.

Here you can drop this second 'du kannst also', because it's exactly the same as in the first part.

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The more common version is, du kannst mir entweder eine Nachricht schicken oder mich später anrufen.

The more common version is: 'du kannst mir entweder eine Nachricht schicken oder mich später anrufen'.

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You can either send me a message or call me later And for some vacation plans Im Juli fliegt Moritz entweder nach Spanien oder er bleibt zu Hause

You can either send me a message or call me later. And for some vacation plans, in July, Moritz will either fly to Spain or he will stay at home.

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Or without this, er bleibt zu Hause.

Or without this: 'er bleibt zu Hause' (he stays at home).

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In July Moritz will either fly to Spain or stay at home.

In July, Moritz will either fly to Spain or stay at home.

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Again, you can drop this er, because it's the same subject in both sentence parts.

Again, you can drop this 'er', because it's the same subject in both sentence parts.

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Moritz and er is the same person.

Moritz and 'er' are the same person.

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Now, what about when we have two different subjects?

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Is that possible?

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Yes, and that's our bonus tip.

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Different subjects, verschiedene Subjekte.

Different subjects, 'verschiedene Subjekte'.

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Not really common.

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The more common version is definitely with just one subject or the same subject in both sentence parts.

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But it is possible.

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Zum Beispiel, entweder fahre ich zu dir oder du kommst zu mir.

For example, 'entweder fahre ich zu dir oder du kommst zu mir'.

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Entweder fahre ich zu dir oder du kommst zu mir.

'Entweder fahre ich zu dir oder du kommst zu mir'.

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Ich und du, two different subjects and also two different verbs.

'Ich' and 'du', two different subjects and also two different verbs.

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Either I go to your place or you come to my place.

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Or, du gehst entweder jetzt nach Hause oder wir fahren später zusammen.

Or, 'du gehst entweder jetzt nach Hause oder wir fahren später zusammen'.

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Du gehst entweder jetzt nach Hause oder wir fahren später zusammen.

'Du gehst entweder jetzt nach Hause oder wir fahren später zusammen'.

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First part of the subject is du, second part of the subject is wir.

The first part of the subject is 'du', the second part of the subject is 'wir'.

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You either go home now or we can go later together.

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And another situation which I want to point out specifically is when we talk about Drohungen.

And another situation which I want to point out specifically is when we talk about threats.

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Drohungen are threats.

Threats are threats.

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Und hier, we often use this Konjunktion Entweder oder as well.

And here, we often use this conjunction 'either/or' as well.

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Zum Beispiel, the parents when they're angry, talk to their child.

For example, the parents when they're angry, talk to their child.

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Entweder du isst jetzt dein Essen oder gehst sofort ins Bett.

Either you eat your food now or you go to bed immediately.

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Entweder du isst jetzt dein Essen oder gehst sofort ins Bett.

Either you eat your food now or you go to bed immediately.

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Either you eat your food right now or you go to bed immediately.

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Or a more channel situation.

Or a more challenging situation.

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Entweder du kommst jetzt mit oder ich fahre allein nach Hause.

Either you come with me now or I'm going home alone.

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Either you come with me, you come along with me, or I go home alone.

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And if you want to have a less detailed but more compact version of all important zweiteilige Konjunktionen,

And if you want to have a less detailed but more compact version of all important two-part conjunctions,

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we have here a video about them as well.

we have a video about them here as well.

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Vielen Dank fürs Zuschauen, I hope you learned something, I hope to see you again,

Thank you very much for watching, I hope you learned something, I hope to see you again,

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bis zum nächsten Mal, tschüss und bye bye.

until next time, bye and goodbye.

Life is full of choices 😉 | German B1 two-part conjunction