Structure
Verb + か + あるいは
[い]Adjective + か + あるいは
[な]Adjective + か + あるいは
Noun + (か) + あるいは
あるいは + Phrase + かもしれない
Details
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Formal
使用域
硬い
About あるいは
あるいは is a construction in Japanese that is used as a 接続語 (conjunction). It usually appears after statements that have been marked with the adverbial particle か. あるいは may be loosely translated as 'possibly', 'maybe', or 'or'.
- 運動をさせるかあるいは餌を減らしてください。Please make them exercise or possibly lessen the amount of food.
- パソコンの動作が遅いかあるいは電源が点かなくなった場合は、私達が直します。In the event that the computer gets slow or doesn't turn on, we will fix it.
- 有名かあるいは綺麗であれば誰でも入れるらしい。I heard that if you are famous or maybe beautiful, anyone can get in.
- 土曜日かあるいは日曜日までには終わらせておきます。I will try to have it finished by either Saturday or possibly Sunday.
- 牛乳あるいはチーズが使われている料理は食べられません。I can't eat anything that uses milk, or another possibility is cheese.
- 月曜日あるいは火曜日に新しい生徒が来ます。A new student will come on either Monday, or another possibility is Tuesday.
Synonyms
Examples
月曜日あるいは火曜日であれば、参加できます。
If it is Monday or Tuesday, I can attend.
植物あるいは昆虫を観察しましょう。
Let's observe some plants or bugs.
晴れあるいは曇りであれば、お祭りに行きましょう。
Whether it is sunny or cloudy, let's go to the festival.
今年あるいは来年には、そちらに行けるかと思います。
I think I will be able to go there this year or next year.
動画あるいは写真でもいいので送ってください。
Please send me video or pictures, anything is ok.
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Differences between それとも・または・もしくは・あるいは
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あるいは – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (14 in total)
simias
Thank you. I think what confuses me is that the point in general as explained in the bunpro lesson seems to carry some element of uncertainty, but there’s isn’t any here, right?
So basically in this case it effectively means と?
nekoyama
It means A or B, like AかB.
casual
晴れあるいは曇りであれば、お祭りに行きましょう。
Am I right in thinking that this means:
If it’s sunny, or even if it’s cloudy, let’s go to the festival. (but it’s better if it’s sunny, and we make no promises about other cases such as rain).
The impression I’m getting from the English translation is somewhat different, which is throwing me off a little bit:
Whether it is sunny or cloudy, let’s go to the festival. (it doesn’t matter which, we go there absolutely in any case).
I’ve re-read the linked 類語例解辞典 snippet about あるいは, and I don’t 100% understand it, but it seems that it typically puts more emphasis on option A as opposed to B.
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