How to say "or" in Arabic
CognateMeaningor
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
أَو
awאו
أو
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
או
oأُو
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic aw is Hebrew או, plain and simple — same sound, same job, same two letters (أو ↔ או).
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
وَلَّا
wallaולאCairo's everyday 'or' is walla, especially in questions: shāy walla ʾahwa? — 'tea or coffee?'
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
ولَّا
wellaולאDarija says wella: atay wella qehwa? — 'tea or coffee?'
In a phrase
شَاي أَو قَهْوَة
shāy aw qahwaשאי או קהוהtea or coffee