Answer – Most style guides recommend avoiding the use of and/or in formal writing.

Explanation:

And/or serves the purpose of a conjunction in a sentence. It is used to show that either all of the possibilities or one or more of the possibilities it links could occur. It is occasionally written as just “and or” (without the slash) or “and or or.” This sentence illustrates how it may be used:

We need to decide whether we want to buy cookies and/or donuts for the event.

Although it is sometimes used in business and legal documents, the use of and/or in formal writing is largely discouraged by most style guides. Even the ever-popular Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. says that and/or is “a device, or shortcut, that damages a sentence and often leads to confusion or ambiguity.” In fact, many language experts go so far as to deeming it “ugly.”

Thus, to avoid the use of this unpopular conjunction, simply rephrase the sentence based on what needs to be conveyed in one of the following 3 ways:

1. Rewrite the sentence with just “and”

We need to decide whether we want to buy cookies and donuts for the event.

2. Rewrite the sentence with just “or”

We need to decide whether we want to buy cookies or donuts for the event.

3. Rewrite the sentence to convey a or b or both

We need to decide whether we want to buy cookies or donuts or both for the event.

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