或者【huòzhě】

或者 means "or" in a statement. It joins nouns, verb phrases or whole clauses, and puts the options forward as all acceptable.

或者 or 还是

还是 asks the listener to pick one option. 或者 lays options out without asking for a choice. A 吗 question with 或者 asks whether any of them will do, and the answer is yes or no.

The mistake is 或者 in a choice question, where English uses the same "or" for both.

• × 你喝茶或者咖啡？ → 你喝茶还是咖啡？
• × 你今天去或者明天去？ → 你今天去还是明天去？

或者…或者

Repeating 或者 sets out two options more deliberately, "either … or".

或 on its own is the written form, seen in notices and forms.