Expressing "either... or..." with "yaome"

You can give a series of alternatives by using 要么 (yàome). The structure is pretty versatile, as you can put a wide variety of things after each 要么:

Used for Making a Suggestion

Structure

When used all by itself, 要么 starts the sentence and is used to give a suggestion. In this usage, it is very similar to 要不(yàobù).

Reason / Situation ，要么 + Option B (+ 吧)

or

要么 + Option ，Reason / Situation

Examples

• 老板 今天 不 在 ，要么 你们 明天 来 吧 。Lǎobǎn jīntiān bù zài, yàome nǐmen míngtiān lái ba.The boss isn't here today. How about if you all come back tomorrow?
• 大家 都 有点 累 了，要么 休息 一会儿 吧 。Dàjiā dōu yǒudiǎn lèi le, yàome xiūxi yīhuìr ba.Everyone is a little tired. Why don't we rest for a while?
• 这个 星期 我 比较 忙，要么 下 个 星期 见 ？Zhège xīngqī wǒ bǐjiào máng, yàome xià gè xīngqī jiàn?I'm pretty busy this week. How about we meet up next week?
• 我 周末 还 没 安排，要么 你们 来 我家 玩 吧。Wǒ zhōumò hái méi ānpái, yàome lái wǒ jiā wán ba.I don't have plans for the weekend. How about you guys come to my place and hang out?
• 我 的 现金 不 够 ，要么 我 用 支付宝 付 吧 。Wǒ de xiànjīn bù gòu, yàome wǒ yòng Zhīfùbǎo fù ba.I don't have that much cash. How about I pay you by Alipay?

Used to Express Limited Options

When used by itself, 要么 is a not-so-pushy suggestion. But when used for a pair of choices, it gives a much more hardline "either/or" feel: these are the two choices. Choose one. (It can also be used for more than two choices, but it's usually just two.) In this case, 要不 acts exactly like 要么.

It can be used both for commands and non-commands.

Structure

要么 + Option A ，要么 + Option B

Examples

• 要么 你 去，要么 他 去 。Yàome nǐ qù, yàome tā qù.Either you go, or he goes.
• 要么 现在 就 买 ，要么 就 别 买 。Yàomexiànzài jiù mǎi, yàome jiù bié mǎi.Either buy it now, or don't buy it.
• 要么 好好 听课 ，要么 现在 就 出去 。Yàome hǎohǎo tīngkè, yàome xiànzài jiù chūqù.Either listen to the lesson carefully or get out right now.
• 去年 夏天 ，我 每天 要么 去 健身，要么 去 图书馆，特别 无聊 。Qùnián xiàtiān, wǒ měi tiān yàome qù jiànshēn, yàome qù túshūguǎn, tèbié wúliáo.Last summer I either went to the gym or the library every day. It was so boring.
• 我 老公 周末 要么 睡觉 ，要么 打 游戏 ，什么 家务 都 不做 。Wǒ lǎogōng zhōumò yàome shuìjiào, yàome dǎ yóuxì, shénme jiāwù dōu bù zuò.My husband either sleep or play online games on weekends. He doesn't do any chores.

See also

• Providing two options with double "huozhe"
• Expressing the only two possibilities

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 158) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (pp. 165) →buy