You must slow down or stop if necessary

English as a Second Language Listening, speaking, pronunciation and accent
1

At a driving school

Driving Instructor: This is the sign for pedestrian crossover or crosswalk. Whenever you see this, you must slow down or stop if necessary.

Man: You must stop or slow down when necessary at any crosswalk or crossover?

Driving Instructor: Yes, and what does this mean?

you must slow down or stop if necessary ← Original text

Which is correct:

1- you must slow down or stop if necessary
2- you must slow down and stop if necessary

Thank you

Video link:

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slow motion:

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2

First, the indistinct sound that they transcribe as “or” sounds closer to “and” to me. The relatively long pause there seems to contain an “n”.
It also sounds rather robotic.

Also, with the pause there, I believe the speaker is separating the two ideas “slow down” and “stop” so that his meaning is
“You must slow down. You must stop if necessary.”

Now for your question.
Which is correct:

1- you must slow down or stop if necessary
2- you must slow down and stop if necessary

In order to stop, you must first slow down, so from a logic point of view #1 could be expressed
“You must slow down or [slow down and] stop if necessary.”

They’re both saying the same thing, though I think “and” is more natural.

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3

Thank you so much, Arinker :two_hearts:

I have another question:

1- D.i: You must slow down or stop if necessary
(You must slow down. You must stop if necessary)

2- Man: You must stop or slow down when necessary

Have the two sentences the same meaning in this dialogue?

Are the two sentences equal?

If not, why driving instructor says Yes,

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4

It’s two statements.
You must slow down.
plus
You must stop if necessary.

It does sound like he mumbled ‘and’ instead of ‘or’.

Logically the order doesn’t matter in a straight OR statement. However, this statement implies an order of events. You must slow down first. Then, if necessary, you must stop. So you would not want to reverse the order like in #2.

Also, the modifiers ‘must’ and ‘when necessary’ should be next to the verb they apply to.
Must slow down.
Stop if necessary.
If necessary, stop.

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5

Thank you so much, NearlyNapping :two_hearts:

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6

Thank you so much for your likes, Torsten :two_hearts:

1 Like