Chinese word

或者

Pronunciation

Pinyinhuò zhě

Meaning

  • conjunctionor

Example

我明天或者后天去看你。wǒ míng tiān huò zhě hòu tiān qù kàn nǐ

I will go see you tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Illustration for 或者 (or)

More examples

你可以买苹果或者香蕉。nǐ ké yǐ mǎi píng guǒ huò zhě xiāng jiāo

You can buy apples or bananas.

Core concept

A connector places alternatives side by side and leaves the choice between them open.

Common phrases

  • 这个或者那个zhè ge huò zhě nà ge

    this or that

  • 苹果或者香蕉píng guǒ huò zhě xiāng jiāo

    apples or bananas

  • 周一或者周二zhōu yí huò zhě zhōu èr

    Monday or Tuesday

Similar words

还是hái shì: Asks which of two or more choices is wanted in a question.
要么yào me: Presents two or more alternatives as a spoken either-or choice.

Definition in Chinese

表示在两个或多个事物中选择其一，用于陈述句中连接词语或短句。biǎo shì zài liǎng gè huò duō gè shì wù zhōng xuǎn zé qí yī yòng yú chén shù jù zhōng lián jiē cí yǔ huò duǎn jù

Word origin

The word 或者 (huòzhě, "or; perhaps") grew from 或 (huò, "some; one of") plus 者 (zhě, "a person or thing"), forming the idea of one item among possible items.

Usage tips

  • The repeated pattern 或者 (huòzhě, "or")...或者... keeps alternatives parallel, so the parts on both sides work best when they have matching grammar.

Other meanings

  • maybeadverb

Word lists with this word