Conjugating when the subject includes alternatives separated by 'o'

Question

If the subject of the verb has two alternatives separated by 'or' should the verb be conjugated as singular (as it should be in English) or as plural as in the following example:

"Me voy a quejar cuando la comida o la bebida no es bueno."

or

"Me voy a quejar cuando la comida o la bebida no son bueno."

PS - Apologies if the rest of the sentence is incorrect. I'm not sure if I should be using the subjunctive for this sentence construction as I'm actually not that advanced in my learning yet. Your corrections are welcomed.

Answer 1

Kiwi-Girl's answer is correct: you use the third person singular verb form when the subject is only one of two.

Regarding your sentence. I am not a native speaker but I think you should use si instead of cuando in your sentence. What you said in Spanish translates into I am going to complain when the food or drink is not good. It implies that you are expecting it to not be good. Whereas "I am going to complain if the food or drink is not good." sounds better to me. You do not need the subjunctive in this sentence.

However, If you change it to a general statement "Me quejo cuando la bebida o la comida no sea buena." I complain when the food is not good., you do use the subjunctive. Generally when you are talking about something happening "cuando" is followed by the subjunctive. It's a sort of uncertain future. When you write to your parents, tell them I said hello. Cuando escribas a tus padres, diles que los saludo.

Thanks - yes I thought myself that Cuando/when was not as good as Si/if which is what I would use in English but I was trying to avoid the subjunctive. Thanks for the tips. There's so much to learn it can get a bit disheartening at times. - ErikainAndalusia, Sep 1, 2015

Answer 2

As far as I know if more than one thing is conjoined with 'y' then you would make the accompanying verb plural but if u were using 'o' then the verb would stay in the singular because you are referring to one or other of the items not both or all of them together.

Thank you - so the same as English. That makes it a little easier. - ErikainAndalusia, Sep 1, 2015