Word
Aux échecs, soit on attaque le centre, soit on défend.
Meaning
In chess, either we attack the center, or we defend.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Aux échecs, soit on attaque le centre, soit on défend.
on
one / we (informal)
aux
to the, at the (plural) / with (flavoured with, in dish names) / with (having as a feature)
attaquer
to attack
défendre
to defend
Questions & Answers about Aux échecs, soit on attaque le centre, soit on défend.
Why do we use soit ... soit here instead of ou ... ou for "either... or"?
Why does the sentence start with Aux échecs instead of Dans les échecs to mean "In chess"?
In French, you refer to games and sports using the preposition à contracted with the definite article (à + les = aux). Just as you would say jouer aux échecs to mean "to play chess", you use aux échecs to mean "in the game of chess". Using dans would sound as though you were physically inside the chess pieces.
Is the word soit in this sentence related to the subjunctive form of the verb être?
Yes, historically it is exactly that! It comes from the third-person singular subjunctive of être, literally meaning "let it be". Over time, the phrase soit... soit... (let it be this... let it be that...) became a fixed conjunction meaning "either... or...". You do not need to apply any subjunctive grammar rules when using it this way.
Could we use nous instead of on to mean "we" here?