How to distinguish the conjunctions 还是 (háishì) and 或者 (huòzhě) in Mandarin?

还是 is most commonly used in a question for presenting choices, as we saw in the example at the beginning of the post. These choices can be two nounsNo definition set for nounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., two verbsNo definition set for verbsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., or even two adjectivesNo definition set for adjectivesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum..
For example:

You can soften the tone of the question with 呢 (ne).

还是 can sometimes be used in a statement when it is tied with particular structures, such as:

• indirect questions, and

• in the structure below:

Let's start with indirect questions:

Look at the following indirect questions in Mandarin:

In these examples, 还是 is still used for presenting choices, but it is inside a question embedded in a statement.

Another way of using 还是 in a statement is with 不论 / 不管... 还是:

When 还是 is used in the 还是... 吧 (ba) structure, it does not mean “or”; 吧 is commonly used at the end of a sentence for suggestions. The 还是... 吧 (ba) structure is for suggesting a choice after considering different options. For example:

The first example above implies that the speaker was thinking about going out, but after considering the situation, they suggested that it'd be better to stay at home. In both examples, 还是 implies that the suggestion was made after considering different options or situations.

或者 is most commonly used in a statement to connect alternatives, unlike 还是. It does not ask for a choice. For example:

In both examples, 或者 connects two alternatives, or possibilities, but it doesn’t require the listener to make a choice, like 还是 does.

Occasionally, 或者 can also be used in a yes-no question, i.e., a question with 吗 (ma) at the end. For example:

In this example, 或者 only connects the alternatives, but does not offer choices. To make this clearer, let’s take a look at the example. The question is asking, “Do you have the experience of going to Beijing or Shanghai?” rather than offering choices. Let’s put this sentence in context. You might be talking about your experience living in big cities in China, and you want to ask someone, “Have you been to Beijing or Shanghai?” You do not want to know if they have been to Beijing or to Shanghai, but in general, you would like to know if they have been to a big city in China. In this case, you’re not using 或者 to offer choices, but to connect the two alternatives.

It is useful to know that 或者 can also mean “perhaps” in some cases, as seen in the example below:

Like earlier, 还是 used here is for making a suggestion after considering the situation and other options. And 或者 in the second sentence functions as an adverb — meaning “perhaps” — to provide an alternative.