English Vocabulary for learners
ELSE:
Words and phrases with 'else' and 'or else'
How and when 'else' and 'or else' are used.
‘ELSE’ is used:
- after words beginning with: any-, every-, no- and some-
- or after: how, what, where, who, why .
- ANY-, EVERY-, NO-, SOME-:
- “Two coffees and an orange juice. Would you like anything else?”
- “I decided to have spaghetti. Everything else was too expensive.”
- “He said something else: he said that the car had a foreign registration plate.”
- “Turn off that television! Have you got nothing else to do?”
- “The boss always arrives half an hour before anyone/anybody else.”
- ”We were the last to leave. Everyone else had gone home.”
- “Except for my boyfriend I knew nobody/no one else at the party.
- “I don’t know the answer, so you’ll have to ask someone else.”
- "I don't like this place very much. Can we go somewhere else?"
- “Some animals in this country can be found nowhere else in the world.”
- HOW, WHAT, WHY, WHERE, WHEN, WHO, WHY:
- ”The burglar probably broke a window. How else could he get in?"
- ”We’ve got plates, cutlery and glasses. What else do we need?”
- ”I’ve searched the house for my keys. Where else could they be?”
- "If we don't go tomorrow, when else can we go?"
- ”Your colleague was with you. Who else was present?”
- ”The boy went to the bakery to buy bread. Why else would he go there?”
- OR ELSE: is used to state the second of two possibilities, to say
what the result will be if something does not happen or to make a threat.
What follows 'or else' is an alternative or a logical conclusion to what precedes it.
- to state the second of two possibilities:
- ”We eat whatever we find in the kitchen, or else we go shopping.”
- “Leave now, or else you'll have to wait until tomorrow morning.”
- "You could drive across Belgium, or else fly to Paris and hire a car."
- "The article must be interesting, or else he wouldn’t be still reading it.”
- to say what will happen if something is not done:
- "We must get there by seven or else we'll miss the train."
- "The roof will have to be repaired or else it will collapse!"
- to threaten someone:
- "Do your homework or else your parents will be very cross!"
- "You boys had better stop fighting or else I'll call the police!"
- "or else" can be used alone to warn that there will be unpleasant consequences, without specifying the exact nature of the threat:
- “Tidy your room, or else..!”
- “Do what I say, or else…!”
see also:
English idiomatic expressions
more expressions
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