A 还是 B? (or — in questions)
"Tea or coffee?" — a real question
- Offering a choice in a question? Use or / still还是.
- you你to drink tea喝茶or / still还是coffee (loanword)咖啡? = "tea or coffee?"
- The partner of or或者 (which is for statements).
A + or / still还是 + B?
- or / still还是 links the two options inside a question.
you你drink喝tea茶or还是coffee咖啡？
- you你to drink tea喝茶or / still还是coffee (loanword)咖啡？ = "tea or coffee?"
Practice
Tea or coffee? 你喝茶 ____ 咖啡?
A 还是 B? = a choice question: 你喝茶还是咖啡?
Practice
Build: “Do you drink tea or coffee?”
A + 还是 + B?: 你喝茶 + 还是 + 咖啡?
or / still还是 vs or或者
- or / still还是 = "or" in a question; or或者 = "or" in a statement.
Explore
Correct or broken?
还是 builds choice QUESTIONS — A 还是 B, and the question mark is part of the deal.
Practice
还是 is used in…
还是 = “or” in a question; 或者 = “or” in a statement.
Practice
茶还是咖啡都行 is the right way to say “either is fine”.
That's a statement → use 或者: 茶或者咖啡都行.
Recap
Key idea
- A + or / still还是 + B? — "A or B?" in a question
- you你to drink tea喝茶or / still还是coffee (loanword)咖啡?
- Question → or / still还是; statement → or或者
Read the full reference: HSK 3 grammar — Conjunctions.