oder / mee

Or and but: Oder and Mee

Level 1

Oder means or and mee means but: Téi oder Kaffi? Ech si midd, mee ech schaffen nach.

How It Works

Oder gives a choice: Wëlls du Téi oder Kaffi? (Do you want tea or coffee?) Mee adds something that goes against what came before: Ech si midd, mee ech schaffen nach. (I'm tired, but I'm still working.)

No change in word order. Oder and mee only link the two parts. They do not take a place in the sentence, so the second sentence looks just as it would on its own. The verb stays in second place, as in word order basics:

  • Ech si midd, mee ech schaffen nach.
  • Mir ginn an de Kino, oder mir bleiwen doheem.

Mee after net. After a sentence with net, mee brings in the right word: Hien ass net krank, mee midd. (He isn't sick, just tired.) Luxembourgish uses mee for both kinds of "but".

Spelling. The standard spelling is mee. You will also meet mä and ma, which are used the same way. The word awer can also mean but, but it works differently. See mee and awer.

Oder at the end. Put oder? at the end of a sentence to check that someone agrees: Dat ass flott, oder? See question tags. For "either ... or", see entweeder ... oder.

Examples (6)

  1. Wëlls du Téi oder Kaffi?

    Do you want tea or coffee?

  2. Kënns du haut oder muer?

    Are you coming today or tomorrow?

  3. Mir ginn an de Kino, oder mir bleiwen doheem.

    We'll go to the cinema, or we'll stay at home.

    After oder, the sentence starts with mir, and the verb comes second.

  4. Ech si midd, mee ech schaffen nach.

    I'm tired, but I'm still working.

    After mee, the sentence starts with ech, and the verb comes second.

  5. Hien ass net krank, mee midd.

    He isn't sick, just tired.

    Word by Word: He is not sick, but tired.

    After net, mee brings in the right word.

  6. D'Wunneng ass kleng, mee bëlleg.

    The flat is small but cheap.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the verb before the subject after mee.

    Ech si midd, mee schaffen ech nach.
    Ech si midd, mee ech schaffen nach.

    Mee does not take a place in the sentence. The subject comes first, and the verb comes second.

  • Putting the verb before the subject after oder.

    Mir ginn an de Kino, oder bleiwe mir doheem.
    Mir ginn an de Kino, oder mir bleiwen doheem.

    Oder works like mee. The second sentence keeps its normal order: mir bleiwen.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

oder / meeLevel 1Or and but: Oder and Mee

Learn This First

Before Or and But: Oder and Mee, learn And: An.

Words in This Pattern

odermee