и ... и / или ... или

Both and Either

Level 1Sounds Like i ... i; ili ... ili

Use и ... и when you want to connect two elements with extra emphasis, meaning 'both ... and'. Use или ... или when presenting a distinct choice, meaning 'either ... or'.

How It Works

In Serbian, repeating basic conjunctions like и ('and') or или ('or') produces correlative conjunctions that add balance and rhetorical emphasis:

  • и ... и: Means 'both ... and'. It treats both elements with equal importance: и дан и ноћ ('both day and night').
  • или ... или: Means 'either ... or'. It sharpens alternatives into a clear either-or choice: или ти или ја ('either you or me').

Key Grammatical Rules:
1. Parallel Structure: Both parts must take the grammatical case required by the sentence. For example, if governed by a verb requiring the accusative, both nouns must appear in the accusative.
2. Preposition Placement: The conjunctions precede prepositions, and prepositions are standardly repeated for each item: и са мном и са њим ('both with me and with him'), never *са и мном и њим.
3. Punctuation: In standard Serbian orthography, short parallel phrases joined by и ... и or или ... или do not take a comma between them (e.g., и отац и мајка). Commas are used primarily when coordinating complete clauses (e.g., Или пожури, или ћеш закаснити) or when listing three or more items.
4. Negation: Under verb negation, to say 'neither ... nor', Serbian requires ни ... ни instead of и ... и.

Examples (5)

  1. И отац и мајка раде у истој школи.

    Both father and mother work at the same school.

    Word by Word: Both father and mother work in same school.

    Coordinates two subjects in the nominative case with equal emphasis.

  2. Можеш изабрати или књигу или филм.

    You can choose either a book or a movie.

    Word by Word: You-can to-choose either book or movie.

    Coordinates two direct objects in the accusative case to show a choice between two things.

  3. Она воли и чај и кафу.

    She likes both tea and coffee.

    Word by Word: She likes both tea and coffee.

    Uses и ... и to give rhetorical symmetry to two things she likes.

  4. Или ћеш доћи на време, или немој уопште долазити.

    Either come on time, or don't come at all.

    Word by Word: Either you-will come on time, or do-not at-all come.

    Coordinates two full clauses. Note the comma separating the two distinct clauses.

  5. Имам пријатеље и у Београду и у Нишу.

    I have friends both in Belgrade and in Niš.

    Word by Word: I-have friends both in Belgrade and in Niš.

    Shows proper preposition placement: the conjunction precedes the preposition before each location.

Common Mistakes

  • 'Не ... и ... и' is correct, but it means 'not both', not 'neither'.

    Different MeaningОн не пије и пиво и вино.
    Он не пије ни пиво ни вино.

    'Он не пије и пиво и вино' means he does not drink both together (he may drink one). For 'neither beer nor wine', use 'ни ... ни': 'Он не пије ни пиво ни вино'.

  • Placing the preposition before the conjunction instead of after it.

    Живео сам у и селу и граду.
    Живео сам и у селу и у граду.

    The conjunction must come first, and the preposition is repeated before each coordinate phrase.

  • Failing to match the case on both coordinated nouns.

    Помогао је и Марко и Јовану.
    Помогао је и Марку и Јовану.

    Both elements share the exact same role in the clause. Since the verb помоћи requires the dative case, both names must take the dative ending -у.

How It Connects

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

и ... и / или ... илиLevel 1Both and Either

Learn This First

To use the correlative coordinating conjunctions 'и ... и' (both ... and) and 'или ... или' (either ... or), learners first need familiarity with basic connecting conjunctions like 'и' (and).

Words in This Pattern

или