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Level B2 (Upper intermediate)
This French word of the day is the conjunction sinon (B2), meaning including otherwise, if not, and or else.
sinon – IPA pronunciation /si.nɔ̃/
How To Use “Sinon” In French With Example Sentences
Word origin
The French conjunction sinon (otherwise) combines si (if) and non (no).
Example sentences
These first two example sentences use French’s two commonly used future tenses: Le futur proche and the futur simple. They also use two reflexive verbs: Se dépêcher (to hurry) and se coucher (to go to bed). The French negation ‘ne…jamais’ means ‘never’.
Dépêche-toi, sinon tu n’arriveras jamais à l’heure.
Hurry up! Otherwise, you’ll never arrive on time.
Je vais me coucher tôt ce soir, sinon je serai fatigué demain.
I’m going to go to bed early. If not, I’ll be tired tomorrow.
The commonly used impersonal expression il faut has many meanings including ‘you have to’. The pronoun on can translate to ‘you’, ‘we’ and people in general.
Il faut être patient quand on apprend le français, sinon c’est top difficile.
You have to be patient when learning French. Otherwise, it’s too hard.
Words related to sinon
- Autrement otherwise, if not
- Sans quoi otherwise, if not
- Dans le cas contraire otherwise, if not
- Et sinon…? So anyway… / By the way…
More useful conjunctions
- Alors so, then
- Donc so, therefore
- Du coup so, as a result
- À moins que unless
- Au cas où just in case
References
