Expressing "or" in statements

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

• Offering choices with haishi
• Providing two options with double "huozhe" (advanced article)

Sources and further reading

Books

• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 74-5) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 257-8) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 239-40) →buy

Websites

• East Asia Student: The difference between 还是 and 或者