Language/French/Grammar/When-use-ou-or-où

When use: Quand or Quant?

Ou or Où?

a or à?

How to know when to use "où" and "ou"?

Summary

It's easy! :)

• OU = OR

• OÙ = WHERE

NB: "OU" and "OÙ" have exactly the same pronunciation.

ou

It's a coordinating conjunction. It expresses a choice between one or more things and is used in an affirmative sentence.

It can be replaced by "ou bien" (or, else).

• Example: Je veux du fromage ou rien du tout. (I want some cheese or nothing) --> Je veux du fromage ou bien rien du tout (I want some cheese, or else, nothing).

où

It's an interrogative adverb, or subordinating relative pronoun, it indicates a location or time.

It's an interrogative adverb in

• direct interrogative sentence: « Où allons-nous ? (Where are we going?)

• or Indirect « Je te demande où nous allons » (I ask you where we're going).

You can not replace by "ou bien".