Learn Romanian › sau
sau
or /ˈsau̯/
other#65 most common
Also: either...or, whether
Example sentences
Vrei ceai sau cafea?
Do you want tea or coffee?
Poți veni azi sau mâine.
You can come today or tomorrow.
Nu știu dacă e vineri sau sâmbătă.
I don't know if it's Friday or Saturday.
Poți plăti cu cardul sau cu numerar, oricare variantă preferi.
You can pay by card or in cash, whichever option you prefer.
Guvernul trebuie să aleagă între a reduce cheltuielile sau a crește taxele.
The government must choose between cutting spending or raising taxes.
Fie că vorbim despre economie, fie despre politică sau despre cultură, dezbaterea rămâne la fel de aprinsă.
Whether we talk about economy, politics, or culture, the debate stays just as heated.
Word family
orior (alternative disjunctive conjunction, more formal)
fiebe it, whether (used in fie...fie, either...or constructions)
sau...saueither...or (correlative pair built from sau)
altfelotherwise, differentlyEtymology
Romanian "sau" descends from the Latin conjunction "sive", meaning "or" or "or if". Most other Romance languages instead built their word for "or" from Latin "aut", which gave Italian "o", French "ou", and Spanish "o". Romanian kept the rarer Latin variant and simplified its sound over time into the short form used today.
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Start free