Breakdown of Vare sig vi besöker ambassaden eller inte, fortsätter samarbetet.
vi
we
inte
not
besöka
to visit
eller
or
fortsätta
to continue
vare sig
whether
ambassaden
the embassy
samarbetet
the cooperation
Questions & Answers about Vare sig vi besöker ambassaden eller inte, fortsätter samarbetet.
Doesn't vare sig ... eller usually mean 'neither ... nor'?
You might have learned that vare sig ... eller translates to 'neither ... nor' when used in a negative sentence. However, when it sets up a condition like it does here, it acts as a conjunction meaning 'whether ... or'. It shows that the outcome in the main clause happens regardless of the two alternatives.
Could we use om instead of vare sig to mean 'whether' in this sentence?
No, om wouldn't work here. While om translates to 'whether' or 'if' in indirect questions (like 'I wonder whether he is coming'), vare sig ... eller is required when you present two alternative conditions that lead to the exact same result.
Why is the verb fortsätter placed before the subject samarbetet?
Why does the word samarbetet end in -t?
The base noun is ett samarbete, meaning a cooperation or collaboration. Because it is an ett-word that already ends in a vowel, it only takes the suffix -t to become the definite form samarbetet (the cooperation).
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