Learn the French Word Sinon

The French conjunction sinon -- pronounced "see-no(n)" -- means except, other than; if not; otherwise, or else. It is related to the two separate words that comprise it: si, which means "if", and non, which means "no". So the word is literally translated to mean "if no".

Examples

Pourquoi a-t-on pris cette décision, sinon pour nous aider?
Why was this decision made, if not to help us?
Je n'en sais rien, sinon qu'il n'y va pas.
I don't know anything about it, other than that he's not going.

Fais-le, sinon tu ne peux pas sortir ce soir.
Do it, or else you can't go out tonight.

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Team, ThoughtCo. "Learn the French Word Sinon." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/sinon-vocabulary-1372578. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). Learn the French Word Sinon. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/sinon-vocabulary-1372578 Team, ThoughtCo. "Learn the French Word Sinon." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/sinon-vocabulary-1372578 (accessed March 28, 2024).