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。
• 周末的时候，我喜欢做做饭或者看看电影。
• 今天晚上我想吃比萨或者汉堡。
• 下个月我打算去杭州或者苏州旅行。
• 圣诞节我们回美国或者留在中国。
• 晚饭以后我喜欢和家人聊聊天或者喝喝茶。
• 他不喜欢住酒店或者旅馆。
• 中国人习惯在过年的时候吃饺子或者吃团圆饭 。

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