"Albo tani albo dobry"

Translation: Either cheap or good

[uq.]

really true

[dont_tread_on_me]

Duolingo - You're not just learning a language but a life lesson lol

[siebenneun]

Is this a Polish expression that natives would use?

[immery]

not as a set expression, but if you want to say that there are no things both cheap and good, than yes, natives would say it. Although, I think "Albo dobry albo tani" is more common. (At least where I live)

[Daniel_Draskoczy]

Albo ryba albo akwarium :)

[Jan.K.M]

Either inexpensive or good

[Jellei]

OK, added.

[DPan76]

Does "tani" have the same connotation as "cheap," i.e., low quality?

[Jellei]

Yes, it can.

[BuchitaBuchys]

Why is it for "Me or her" it was "Ja albo ona", but for this sentence it is "Albo tani albo dobry". Could either sentence structure be used? Like for this one, could it be "Tani albo dobry", and for "Me or her" could it have been "Albo ja albo ona". Or is this sentence like this because it's already a "set" common sentence/phrase?

[alik1989]

When the English phrase reads "either... or" we translate it with "albo... albo". In the other sentence you mentioned, it was just "me or her".

[Jellei]

But in general it could be "Albo ja, albo ona". Repeating "albo" twice emphasizes that only one option can be chosen, that they exclude each other.

[IvelisseIl2]

How will i know when to use 'czy' or 'albo' for 'or'?

[Jellei]

99,9% of usages of "czy" as "or" are in questions. And also almost every time when you have "or" in questions, it will be "czy".

Then you have the difference between "albo" and "lub". Technically, "albo" should be the 'exclusive or', so it should allow only for one option to be correct. "lub", the 'inclusive or', allows for both options to be correct. In reality, many natives may either simply not know that, or not care.

The exception is this exact construction that we have here. "either... or" shows very strongly that only one option is correct, so it has to be "albo... albo".