Difference between revisions of "Offering choices with "haishi""

Line 43: Line 43:
 
== Websites ==
 
== Websites ==
  
* East Asia Student: [[http://eastasiastudent.net/2331/china/mandarin/cmn-grammar/difference-hai-shi-huo-zhe/ The difference between 还是 and 或者]]
+
* East Asia Student: [http://eastasiastudent.net/2331/china/mandarin/cmn-grammar/difference-hai-shi-huo-zhe/ The difference between 还是 and 或者]
  
 
[[Category:A1 grammar points]]
 
[[Category:A1 grammar points]]

Revision as of 08:36, 19 August 2011

还是 (háishì) is used in Chinese to provide options in a question. This is equivalent to one use of "or" in English. The basic structure is:

Option A + 还是 + Option B

You can then put this into all kinds of questions with the following structure:

Subject + Verb + Option A + 还是 + Option B

Some examples:

还是 questions
Subject Verb Option A 还是 Option B
美国人 还是 英国人
喜欢 啤酒 还是 葡萄酒
医生 还是 护士
想吃 中国菜 还是 法国菜
很大的猫 还是 很小的老虎

Please note that 还是 is for offering options in a question. It should not be used for all translations of the English word "or."

Sources and further reading

Websites