Because of the recent transformation of the market, Quore, Inc., must increase productivity 10 percent over the cours...

rolltribe July 21, 2015

Either/Or Statement, or Compound Statement?

I saw the word "or" without the word either, and assumed this was a compound statement. How can I better recognize the difference between "Either/Or" statements and compound statements?

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Naz July 23, 2015

The word "or" will always indicate an "either/or" statement. "And" is a compound statement. You should never switch the two.

Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Ryn November 17, 2021

Suggestion: Even though I constructed the conditional statement of the first sentence correctly, it would be helpful if it is explained in the explanations of the question or in the lesson on "Sufficient and Necessary Conditions" that a stand-alone "or" requires the same approach as the "either/or" approach. Even the video lesson has only an example of a statement using both "either" and "or" terms in the same sentence; this will probably decrease the confusion and better prepare learners. Also, isn't the case that you can switch the two when you negate? I personally created the conditional based on the thought processes of what is causing something to happen to the other.

jakennedy January 19, 2022

Hi @Ryn,

You are correct in that you can switch an AND to an OR when you take the contrapositive:

Example:

A AND B ? C

contrapositive:

NOT C ? NOT A OR NOT B