või

Või is a common Estonian coordinating conjunction meaning "or." It is used to present alternatives, options, or possibilities and can appear in questions, statements, and conditional clauses. The word is invariable, showing no agreement with the surrounding words, and it typically appears early in a sentence when introducing a choice.

Etymology and cognates: Või is a native Estonian word and is closely related to the Finnish word vai, which also means "or." The two are considered cognates within the Finno-Ugric language family, sharing a function as a marker of alternatives.

Usage and examples: Või is used to link elements in a list of possibilities, as in Kas sa soovid teed või kohvi? (Do you want tea or coffee?) It can begin a sentence to pose a choice, for example Või peaksin ma tulema varakult? (Or should I come early?) It may appear with other particles such as "või mitte" to express a negated alternative, as in Ta ei otsusta, või mitte? (He hasn’t decided, or not?) In formal and informal contexts, võis remain the standard word for presenting options without inflection.

See also: Estonian grammar, Estonian conjunctions, Finnish–Estonian cognates.

References: General Estonian language resources and dictionaries.