Chinese Quiz: Huò zhě (或者) or Hái shì (还是)

Answer Analysis：

Xiǎo Míng: Nǐ zhè ɡe xīnɡ qī qù zhōnɡ ɡuó hái shì xià ɡè xīnɡ qī qù ？
小      明:    你  这  个   星  期  去   中      国   还  是  下  个   星   期 去？

Xiǎo Hóng: Xià ɡè xīnɡ qī.
小       红:    下  个   星   期。

Xiǎo Míng: Zěn me qù ？
小       明:    怎  么  去？

Xiǎo Hóng: Zuò huǒ chē huò zhě zuò fēi jī.
小      红:     坐    火    车   或   者    坐  飞 机。

1. 还是（hái shì）is usually used in two scenarios：

When the speaker uses it, it indicates he or she does not know “which one or what situation it is”. It is often used in questions.

Eg:
nǐ xǐ huān píng guǒ hái shì cǎo méi？
你喜欢苹果还是草莓？
Which one do you like, apple or strawberry？

Sometimes it doesn’t have to appear in a question. This is when phrase like “bù zhī dào不知道: don’t know yet，bù qīng chǔ不清楚: not clear，méi jué ding没决定: haven’t decided yet，bú què ding不确定: not sure” is in the sentence, too.

Eg：
qù měi guó hái shì qù yīng guó，wǒ hái méi què dìng.
去美国还是去英国，我还没确定。
I’m not sure where to visit, U.S. or U.K.

2. 或者(huò zhě): It’s normally not used in questions. The speaker uses it to tell others there are multiple possibilities.

Eg：
nǐ míng tiān lái huò zhě hòu tiān lái dōu kě yǐ.
你明天来或者后天来都可以。
You can come tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.