Expressing "either... or..." with "yaome"
Revision as of 02:41, 26 December 2017 by ChenShishuang (talk | contribs)
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Used for
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Keywords
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.
Structure
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.
It can be used both for commands and non-commands.
要么 + Option A ，要么 + Option B
Examples
- 要么 你 去，要么 他 去 。Either you go, or he goes.
- 要么 现在 就 买 ，要么 就 别 买 。Either buy it now, or don't buy it.
- 要么 好好 听课 ，要么 现在 就 出去 。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 。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 ，从来 不 做 家务 。My husband either sleeps or plays online games on weekends. He never does chores.
