Breakdown of Entweder schicken wir den Antrag per E‑Mail mit Anhang, oder wir geben ihn am Schalter ab.
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
mit
with
wir
we
oder
or
Questions & Answers about Entweder schicken wir den Antrag per E‑Mail mit Anhang, oder wir geben ihn am Schalter ab.
Why does the verb come before wir after Entweder?
German main clauses are verb‑second. Entweder takes the first position, so the finite verb (schicken) must be second and the subject (wir) follows it. Without Entweder, you’d say Wir schicken ….
What exactly is the entweder … oder construction? Does it change word order?
It’s the correlative “either … or” that coordinates two alternatives. It doesn’t create a subordinate clause, so both halves stay verb‑second. You normally pair entweder with oder; entweder by itself sounds incomplete.
Is the comma before oder required here?
It’s optional when oder links two main clauses. Many writers include it for clarity with longer clauses: …, oder wir geben …. Without the comma is also correct: … mit Anhang oder wir geben ….
Why den Antrag and not der Antrag?
Because schicken takes a direct object in the accusative. Masculine accusative singular uses den: den Antrag. Der Antrag would be nominative (subject).