Expressing "either... or..." with "yaome"

When used by itself, 要么 is a not-so-pushy suggestion. But when used for a pair of choices, it gives a much more hardline "either/or" feel: these are the two choices. Choose one. (It can also be used for more than two choices, but it's usually just two.) In this case, 要不 acts exactly like 要么.

Structure

You can give a series of alternatives by using 要么 (yàome). The structure is pretty versatile, as you can put a wide variety of things after each 要么.

Examples

要么你去，要么他去。 Yàome nǐ qù, yàome tā qù. Either you go, or he goes.
要么继续，要么放弃。 Yàome jìxù, yàome fàngqì. Either keep going or give up.
要么好好做，要么就别做。 Yàome hǎohǎo zuò, yàome jiù bié zuò. You either do it well or don't do it.
要么现在就买，要么现在就走。 Yàome xiànzài jiù mǎi, yàome xiànzài jiù zǒu. Either buy it now, or we get out of here now.
你要么回老家，要么留在上海。 Nǐ yàome huí lǎojiā, yàome liúzài Shànghǎi. You either go back to your hometown or stay in Shanghai.
要么看书，要么写作业，不可以出去玩。 Yàome kànshū, yàome xiě zuòyè, bù kěyǐ chūqù wán. You either read or do homework. No playing outside.
要么继续找工作，要么创业，不能什么都不做。 Yàome jìxù zhǎo gōngzuò, yàome chuàngyè, bù néng shénme dōu bù zuò. Either keeping looking for a job or start your own business. You can't just sit around doing nothing.
你要么加入我们队，要么加入他们队。 Nǐ yàome jiārù wǒmen duì, yàome jiārù tāmen duì. You either join our team or their team.
去年夏天，我每天要么去健身房，要么去图书馆，特别无聊。 Qùnián xiàtiān, wǒ měi tiān yàome qù jiànshēnfáng, yàome qù túshūguǎn, tèbié wúliáo. Last summer I either went to the gym or the library every day. It was so boring.
我老公周末要么睡觉，要么打游戏，从来不做家务。 Wǒ lǎogōng zhōumò yàome shuìjiào, yàome dǎ yóuxì, cónglái bù zuò jiāwù. My husband either sleeps or plays video games on weekends. He never does chores.

Expressing "either... or..." with "yaome"

Contents

Structure

Examples

See also

Sources and further reading

Books