One or other

Stephen B.B2Kwiziq community member

One or other

In one of the tests the answer included « choose one or the other. » We would normally say « Choose one or other (of them). » ‘The one’ or ‘the other’, sounds clunky even if grammatical.  :)

Asked 1 year ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Stephen, there may be regional differences in English usage then. 

In my part of the world 'one or the other' is very common when there is a choice between just 2 things (occasionally hear 'the one or the other', but not commonly, whereas the equivalent is standard in French). 

'One or (an)other' is mostly used when there is a choice between more than 2 things, but the direction is to choose only 1, not many - chocolates, for example !. 

https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/is-this-english-correct

 

One or other

In one of the tests the answer included « choose one or the other. » We would normally say « Choose one or other (of them). » ‘The one’ or ‘the other’, sounds clunky even if grammatical.  :)

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