o
/o/
The Spanish word o means.
o is a conjunction used to connect two or more possibilities or alternatives.
How does it change in a sentence?
The conjunction o changes to u when the following word begins with the sound /o/.
How do you pronounce it?
/o/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often forget to change o to u before words starting with 'o' or 'ho-'. For example, you should say uno u otro instead of uno o otro.
Did you know?
- The Latin ancestor of o is aut, but there is a historical confusion in some texts between o and the Latin word ubi, which actually means 'where'.
- In some Spanish dialects, using o at the end of a sentence functions as a question tag, similar to 'right?' or 'isn't it?' in English.
- In formal legal Spanish, the use of o can be ambiguous, leading some lawyers to specify o bien to clarify whether the options are mutually exclusive or additive.
Examples in context
- Alguien me dijo que las personas con tipo de sangre O atraen más mosquitos que las personas con cualquier otro tipo de sangreSomeone told me that people with type O blood attract more mosquitoes than people with any other blood type.This sentence shows how to refer to blood type O using o.Tatoeba #12903377 by entusiasta, translation #4662664 by CK
- Por favor, dígame la compatibilidad existente entre un hombre de signo capricornio con grupo sanguíneo B y una mujer de signo libra con grupo sanguíneo O.Please tell me the degree of compatibility between a type B Capricorn man and a type O Libra woman.This sentence uses o to refer to blood type O in a different context.Tatoeba #5040455 by Helio, translation #9944683 by shekitten
- «¿De verdad crees que si añades una -o al final de cada palabra estás hablando español?» «No, pero si no sé cómo se dice una palabra vale la pena intentarlo.»"Do you really think that when you add an -o at the end of every word, you're speaking Spanish?" "No, but if I don't know how to say something, it's worth a shot."This sentence uses the letter o to discuss Spanish word endings.Tatoeba #10034789 by Shishir, translation #10637511 by DJ_Saidez
- 17 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are deciding what to eat for dinner.
- Javier¿Quieres comer pizza o pasta?Do you want to eat pizza or pasta?
- SofíaNo sé, cualquier cosa está bien.I don't know, anything is fine.
- JavierEntonces, ¿prefieres comida mexicana o china?Then, do you prefer Mexican or Chinese food?
- SofíaLa comida china suena bien.Chinese food sounds good.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry o, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries o, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
