Offering choices with "haishi"

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

Structure

Option A + 还是 + Option B ?

When you're asked a question of this form, you've only got two possible ways to answer: Option A or Option B. (Pick one, but not both.)

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

Subject + Verb + Option A + 还是 + Option B ?

你要茶还是咖啡？ Do you want tea or coffee?
你要 一个 还是 两个 ？ Do you want one or two?
你是 美国人 还是 英国人 ？ Are you American or English?
他是医生还是老师？ Is he a doctor or a teacher?
你喜欢啤酒还是 葡萄酒 ？ Do you like beer or wine?
你喜欢上海还是北京？ Do you like Shanghai or Beijing?
你喜欢我还是 我的钱 ？ Do you like me or my money?
你想吃 中国菜 还是 法国菜 ？ Do you want to eat Chinese food or French food?
你想去香港还是泰国？ Do you want to go to HongKong or Thailand?
这是水还是酒？ Is this water or wine?
你会说 普通话 还是 广东话 ？ (The expected answer is one or the other, noth "both")Can you speak Mandarin or Cantonese?
你家有小狗还是小猫？ (The expected answer is one or the other, noth "both")Do you have a puppy or a kitty in your house?

Please note that 还是 is for offering options in a question. It should not be used for "or" in statements (see below).