Or else means otherwise, or if not. It says what will happen if something isn't done: Hurry up, or else we'll miss the train. If you end the sentence at or else with nothing after it (Give it back, or else!), it becomes a threat: “or you'll be sorry”. The second meaning is “or alternatively”, when suggesting another option: We could take a taxi, or else walk.
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instruction/clause + , or else + clause; …, or else! (threat); option A, or else option B
- Put the milk back in the fridge, or else it'll go off by the morning.
- We need to confirm the booking today, or else the hotel will cancel our reservation.
- We could share a taxi to the airport, or else wait for the next bus.
What changed
First versionBook the tickets today, else they will sell out.
RevisionBook the tickets today, or else they will sell out.
Dictionaries list else next to the meaning “otherwise”, so it's tempting to use it on its own. But else alone can't link two parts of a sentence; it needs or. So or was added before else, and nothing else changed.
Otherwise has the same meaning but is freer in position: it can start a new sentence. Book the tickets today. Otherwise, they'll sell out. Or else usually stays inside one sentence, after a comma. In essays, otherwise is more usual, and a threatening or else! is completely out of place there.
Your turn
Save your work every few minutes, ___ you could lose everything if the laptop crashes.
Show the answer
or else — After the gap comes what will happen if you don't save: you could lose everything. That consequence is introduced by or else. Unless means “if not”, and the sentence would become nonsense: “save your work, unless you could lose everything”.
Write a warning to a flatmate or colleague: what they need to do and what will happen if they don't. Use or else.
Please water my plants while I'm away, or else they'll be dead by the time I get back.
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