How to use 或者…或者
或者 + option A，或者 + option B
Repeating 或者 before each alternative gives the listener two possible choices or explanations. The alternatives commonly describe actions, but they can also identify different people, roles, or answers. The speaker may be offering a plan or speculating about which possibility is true. Repetition makes the structure explicit and gives both options a clear place in the sentence.
Keep the alternatives grammatically parallel where possible, and place a shared subject before the pair or give each option its own subject when needed. This is normally a statement of alternatives, not the standard form of a direct choice question. Use 还是 when directly asking which of two options the listener chooses.
Examples with pinyin and English
只有一块蛋糕， 或者你吃或者我吃。
There's only one piece of cake. Either you eat it, or I eat it.
你或者学汉语， 或者学法律，别的就别学了。
Either study Chinese or law. Don't study anything else.
咱们或者去爬山或者泡温泉。
Let's either go hiking or go for a soak in the hot springs.
咱们或者今天去或者明天去，一定要去。
We can either go today or tomorrow, but we must go.
What to remember
- Place 或者 before each alternative.
- Share a subject only when it fits both options.
- Use 还是 for a direct either-or question.
Practise the pattern
Use one example as a model. Change the people, objects or situation, keeping the grammar pattern in the same order. Read the explanation again to check how your sentence uses the construction.
Look up the grammar words
Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.