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Entweder... oder... and weder... noch...

Today we'll look at a topic that is neither particularly difficult nor completely easy. This is because either you memorize it immediately or you constantly forget the necessary order. 

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To create the "either... or..." construction in German, the words entweder and oder are employed, always in that particular order: 

 

Daniel Müller ist entweder nicht im Büro oder nicht erreichbar.

Daniel Müller is either not in the office or not available.

Caption 20, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern - Part 1

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Das kann man entweder persönlich tun in einer Filiale oder online.

You can do that either in person at a branch or online.

Caption 14, Eva erklärt - Bankkonten

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Used to reject more than one possibility or eliminate two different parties, weder... noch... is the German equivalent of "neither... nor...":

 

Es war weder Mensch noch Tier.

It was neither man nor animal.

Caption 33, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Schöne und das Biest

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Keiner rechnet damit, dass ein Radfahrer auf dem Gehweg fährt, weder Fußgänger noch Autofahrer.

No one takes into account that a cyclist will be riding on the sidewalk, neither pedestrians nor auto drivers.

Captions 12-13, Einsatz für Christophorus - Gehwegradler

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Another construction which you might have seen and is worth mentioning here is sowohl als auch. This is a fancy way of saying "both... and..." or "as well as...", therefore serving the opposite function.

 

Sowohl Malerei als auch Bildhauerei.

Both paintings as well as sculptures.

Caption 15, Lokalhelden - Art House - Part 1

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Sowohl in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland als auch in der DDR wehen schwarz-rot-goldene Fahnen.

Black, red, and gold flags wave in the Federal Republic of Germany as well as in the GDR.

Caption 61, Terra X - Woher kommen die Farben Schwarz-Rot-Gold?

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Further Learning
Look for more examples of the entweder... oder... and weder... noch...  constructions on Yabla German to solidify your understanding. Also take a look at the different ways in which sowohl als auch can be translated.

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