还是 / 或者 — “or”
Pattern: A 还是 B？ · A 或者 B
Both mean “or”. 还是 is for questions: 你喝茶还是咖啡？ “Tea or coffee?” 或者 is for statements: 我们星期六或者星期天去 “We’ll go on Saturday or Sunday”.
Examples
| 1 | 你喝茶还是咖啡？ nǐ hēchá háishi kāfēi Would you like tea or coffee? |
| 2 | 我们星期六或者星期天去。 wǒmen xīngqīliù huòzhě xīngqītiān qù We’ll go on Saturday or Sunday. |
| 3 | 你是老师还是学生？ nǐ shì lǎoshī háishi xuésheng Are you a teacher or a student? |
| 4 | 你可以坐地铁或者打车。 nǐ kěyǐ zuò dìtiě huòzhě dǎchē You can take the metro or a taxi. |
A common mistake
- ✕ Wrong:
你喝茶或者咖啡？→ ✓ Right: 你喝茶还是咖啡？
Explanations and examples by Zitou. Pinyin added automatically and checked.