ELONIO

And, but, or (en, maar, of)

Connecting Sentences: en, maar, of

You can connect two complete sentences (main clauses) using en (and), maar (but), and of (or).

or
of

These conjunctions do not change the word order. You simply place the conjunction between two normal sentences.

The man reads the newspaper and the woman drinks coffee.
De man leest de krant en de vrouw drinkt koffie.
We have time, but we have no money.
We hebben tijd, maar we hebben geen geld.

Asking Questions with "of"

When you use of to offer a choice between two questions, both halves of the sentence use the inverted word order (verb-subject) standard for questions.

Do you drink tea, or do you want coffee?
Drink je thee, of wil je koffie?
Are we going to the park, or are we staying home?
Gaan we naar het park, of blijven we thuis?

Seasons and Weather

Here is how you might use these conjunctions to talk about the seasons and weather:

Spring is beautiful and summer is warm.
De lente is mooi en de zomer is warm.
It is summer, but it rains a lot.
Het is zomer, maar het regent veel.
Is it raining today, or is the sun shining?
Regent het vandaag, of schijnt de zon?
The sun is shining, but the wind is blowing.
De zon schijnt, maar de wind waait.
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