Difference between revisions of "Offering choices with "haishi""

Line 58: Line 58:
  
 
* East Asia Student: [http://eastasiastudent.net/2331/china/mandarin/cmn-grammar/difference-hai-shi-huo-zhe/ The difference between 还是 and 或者]
 
* East Asia Student: [http://eastasiastudent.net/2331/china/mandarin/cmn-grammar/difference-hai-shi-huo-zhe/ The difference between 还是 and 或者]
 
+
{{Used for|Asking Questions}}
 
[[Category:A1 grammar points]]
 
[[Category:A1 grammar points]]
 
{{Basic Grammar|还是|A1|A + 还是 + B ?|你 要 茶 <em>还是</em> 咖啡 ?|grammar point|ASGA8NIB}}
 
{{Basic Grammar|还是|A1|A + 还是 + B ?|你 要 茶 <em>还是</em> 咖啡 ?|grammar point|ASGA8NIB}}

Revision as of 09:14, 13 June 2012

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

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

Subject + Verb + Option A + 还是 + Option B

Examples

还是 questions
Subject Verb Option A 还是 Option B
美国人 还是 英国人
喜欢 啤酒 还是 葡萄酒
医生 还是 老师
想吃 中国菜 还是 法国菜
很大的猫 还是 很小的老虎

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

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites