connective N2 common politewritten
あるいは — or / alternatively
あるいは
Meaning
- or / or else / alternatively — offers another possibility alongside the first; the formal counterpart of spoken それとも / 〜か
Key sentence
電話、あるいはメールでご連絡ください。
Please contact us by phone or, alternatively, by email.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| between two nouns/phrases, or sentence-initial before an alternative | A、あるいは B / あるいは [alternative] | 賛成、あるいは反対 |
When: Formal and written — documents, notices, careful speech. In conversation, または / それとも / 〜か are more natural.
Examples
本人、あるいは保護者の署名が必要です。
The signature of the person themselves, or alternatively a guardian, is required.
あるいは彼はもう知っているのかもしれない。
Or perhaps he already knows.
When you can't use it
- Sentence-initial あるいは can also shade into 'perhaps / possibly' (あるいは〜かもしれない), moving from 'or' toward speculation.
Easily confused with
または Both are formal 'or'. または is a plain exclusive choice between options on a form or list; あるいは can do the same but also carries the speculative 'or perhaps' nuance and feels slightly more literary. それとも それとも asks the listener to pick between alternatives in a question ('A? それとも B?'); あるいは presents alternatives in a statement, in a more formal register.
See あるいは in real sentences
Jengo shows あるいは the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar.