Expressing "or" in statements

Revision as of 08:54, 20 March 2013 by Guomubai (talk | contribs)

In English, "or" can used used in the sense of having a choice (Chicken or beef?), and as an "either or" statement (it doesn't matter if you're black or white). In Chinese, 或者(huòzhě) is used for the latter.

Structure

Whilst 还是 is used for "or" in questions, 或者 is used for "or" in statements.

Possibility 1 + 或者 + Possibility 2

Examples

  • 我 想 去 青岛 或者 南京。I would like to go to Qingdao or Beijing.
  • 你 去 或者 我 去,都 可以。You go or I go, either way is fine.
  • 晚上 的 时候,我 一般 喜欢 喝 啤酒 或者 葡萄酒。At night, I usually like to drink beer or wine.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites