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Wording a sentence for "A, B, C, D, or E" with inclusive and exclusive "or"

English Language & Usage Asked on April 10, 2021

In my papers, I often need to formulate disjunctions textually (for example, when providing conditions for the fulfillment of a statement).

Let’s see two examples:

  1. When you eat (a) apple, (b) pear, (c) orange, (d) banana, or (e) pinapple,
    you provide important vitamins for your body.

    (inclusive disjunction)

  2. I don’t know whether Joe has (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, or (e) five children.

    (exclusive disjunction)

Of course, the meaning of or is clear in these sentences, but one could give examples, where it is not evident whether inclusive or exclusive or is used.

Is there any way to emphasize the real meaning of or in (1) and (2)?

I usually fix in my papers that A, B, C, …, or Z always indicates an inclusive disjunction, but what can I do when A, B, C, …, or Z should mean an exclusive disjunction? How should I express such an exclusive choice?

One Answer

Your question looks like how you can make "or" explicit between inclusive or exclusive.

  1. The context could provide information to distinguish them.

  2. You can add inclusive or exclusive, using parentheses like 'or(inclusive)', 'or(exclusive)'

ex) the probability of head or tail of one coin(one flip):

head or tail(inclusive (or)) = 1/2 + 1/2 = 1

head or tail(exclusive (or)) = 1-1/2 = 1/2

Answered by Brandon on April 10, 2021

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