either … or
One, not both
Either … or presents two alternatives, one of which must be chosen or must apply: Either you apologize or I'm leaving.
The construction can frame genuine choices (either coffee or tea), logical possibilities (either he's lying or mistaken), or ultimatums.
Either … or implies exclusivity—typically one option, not both—though context sometimes allows for both: The car is either in the garage or the driveway assumes one location, while Either students or faculty can attend doesn't exclude overlap.
- this or thatNonspecific binary indicator
- XORTrue iff inputs differ
- choiceAct of selecting
- alternativeAnother available choice
- take it or leave itNon-negotiable final offer
exclusive · disjunction · all or nothing · trade-off · dichotomy · bifurcation · dilemma · lesser of two evils · dualism · proposition · conditional · binary · one way or another · prioritization · selection · make up your mind · syntactic dependency · polarity
either … orboth … and
Conjunction pairing two items
and · neither … nor · as well as · together with · not only … but also