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When I was writing a manual, I wrote a sentence like example no.1 below. Is it natural to use an "or" like the bolded ones in the sentence? Or it is better to use "and" like example no.2?
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You can create or edit user profiles by filling in information in the blanks on the user-creating page or editing page.

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You can create and edit user profiles by filling in information in the blanks on the user-creating page and editing page.


To clarify my question, I am asking how I can avoid the meaning of and that implies "doing something together" in my example sentence. My solution was to use "or" like example no.1, but that doesn't sound right to me, so I am asking for help.

Maybe I want my "and" to have the same function in this sentence: at this beautiful tourist spot, you can swim, play basketball, and have a sunbath, which clearly doesn't meaning doing them together, rather than this: an artistic swimmer can dance and swim in the water, which indicates doing swimming and dancing together.

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2 Answers 2

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You're combining two pieces of information in one sentence, but trying to keep them separate at the same time.
"There is a page for creating user profiles, and another for editing them."
That might be clearer. The added bit about "filling in blanks" could be omitted. Doesn't all data entry work that way?

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  • Actually, it is a page where you can both edit and create user profiles. Should I use "or" or "and"??
    – vincentlin
    Mar 30, 2020 at 15:10
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    In that case, "You can create and edit user profiles on the user data entry page.". No one is going to think that you must do one along with the other.
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Mar 30, 2020 at 15:29
  • Ok, I understand it now. Thank you for your clear answer.
    – vincentlin
    Mar 30, 2020 at 15:50
  • Sorry, one more question. Does my original example no.1 or no.2 express the meaning across, despite being awkward? The meaning I want to say is that there is a page where the user can create and edit the profiles without the necessity to do one along with the other (the meaning above that you've already known).
    – vincentlin
    Mar 30, 2020 at 16:43
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    No, I would say that it doesn't, because it suggests that you have two different pages. Also,you can use "or" in place of "and" in the version I suggested, but it doesn't make any difference to the meaning.
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Mar 30, 2020 at 17:08
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Keeping it just like in your first example, but adding ", respectively" at the end makes it more clear, I think.

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