第四十一天

[nnozomi]

还是, "or" in questions"
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Offering_choices_with_%22haishi%22

还是 also has a bunch of different usages, doesn't everything, but this one is just "X or Y" as used in questions. (I think.)

Guardian:
普通的什么呀？普通的绝世高手，还是普通的地星领袖啊？(Zhao Yunlan getting on Shen Wei's case for his reflexive "I'm just an ordinary..." "An ordinary what? An ordinary superstar, or an ordinary leader of Dixing?")
说吧，你是为了钱还是为了名？(Let's hear it, are you out for money or for fame?)
那请问你是中医还是西医吗？ (May I ask, do you practice Chinese or Western medicine?)

My practice:
你更喜欢红色的还是白色的？
你要喝热茶还是冷茶？现在是冬天吧，我当然喝热茶。
真的吴邪到底是谁啊？你还是他？

Comments

[nnozomi]

e.g. 我不知道他今天去还是明天去.
I don't think of this as an exception to the 还是-in-questions rule, because it's still an embedded question in the larger sentence, like "I don't know [is he going today or tomorrow?]." I'll try to commit to memory that 无论 works the same way. (another of those 麻烦 Japanese overlaps where it's not the same thing but not quite totally different--無論 in Japanese is just もちろん or 当然...).

And I don't mind at all, it's also fun for me to see everyone here being so enthusiastically frustrated with learning;
Once again, very much appreciated! （如果对日语我能帮你个忙，你什么时候都说，though I'm not a native speaker I am a daily user with native speakers on tap).