Chinese Grammar: Lesson: Offer choices with 还是

Here’s a very serious question for you: Do you like Nincha or Lupishu or Baimei more? Ha-ha, maybe your answer is “All of them!” Good for you! Nonetheless, we’re going to see here how to say “or” in Chinese, and that's 还是 (háishì). It’s always useful to know how-how to offer choices when you’re asking a question and to have a way to give options, isn’t it? Let’s see how to use 还是 to say “or”!

When you want to ask someone to choose between different options, use 还是 to express “or”.

Basic Structure

__Option A + 还是 + Option B __

To ask someone to choose between different options, just place 还是 in between the two options you're providing. Simple, no?

Examples

咖啡还是茶?
Coffee or tea?

今天还是明天？
Today or tomorrow?

他还是我？
Him or me?

Full Structure

Let's insert these options in a full sentence; shall we? Don't worry, it's just as easy, and works like this:

Subject + Verb + Option A + 还是 + Option B ?

Examples

你 喜欢 喝 咖啡还是茶？
Do you like to drink tea or coffee?

你 去 中国还是法国？
Are you going to China or to France?

你 说 汉语还是英语？
Do you speak Chinese or English?

The important thing to keep in mind is that you can only use 还是 to provide options in questions.

Ready to go practice offering options?

还是 can only be used to offer options in questions. We'll see together later on more ways to say "or" in sentences, but this 还是 is a good start to say "or"!