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I don't know how to translate the word "of" to French in some cases?

Ik vroeg me af OF hij dat wel moest doen.

And you also have

Wil jij een ijsje OF heb je liever een wafel?

What's the difference between the 2 "OF" in French? In Dutch, it is called "nevenschikkend voegwoord" and "onderschikkend voegwoord". And what's the translation of it?

EDIT: I tried to translate it to English, but it may be wrongly translated.

I asked myself IF he should do that.

And the other:

Do you want an ice cream OR do you prefer a woffle?

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  • 1
    We don't speak dutch... can you translate it into english first ? What does google translate say about it ?
    – Random
    Jun 14, 2016 at 14:21
  • Google Translate makes it completly wrong :/ Jun 14, 2016 at 14:27
  • Isn't it "moet" ?
    – Destal
    Jun 14, 2016 at 14:30
  • And what about Reverso you can choose the languages... does OF mean or in English?
    – None
    Jun 14, 2016 at 14:30
  • 2
    if = si ; or = ou. I think it's as simple as that.
    – Destal
    Jun 14, 2016 at 14:33

1 Answer 1

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In a sentence between two items at the same "level", "of" will be translated as "ou"

ja of nee

Wil jij een ijsje OF heb je liever een wafel?

=

oui ou non

Veux-tu une glace (crème glacée) OU préfères-tu une gaufre?

In French there is no construction where "ou" doesn't put the two items at the same level ("ou" is always a "conjonction de coordination"). Your first example is a "subordonnée" (bijzin in Dutch), which is then introduced by "si" in French.

Ik vroeg me af of hij dat wel moest doen.

Je me demandais s'il devait vraiment le faire.

Note that "s'il" is a contraction of "si il".

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  • "Si il" is not correct, elision is mandatory here.
    – jlliagre
    Jun 14, 2016 at 23:14
  • 1
    Nitpicking : "jiliagre" and "autant pour moi" are not correct, should be "jlliagre" and "au temps pour moi" : academie-francaise.fr/…
    – jlliagre
    Jun 15, 2016 at 8:33
  • @jlliagre au temps pour moi (bis)
    – radouxju
    Jun 15, 2016 at 9:43

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