HSK 3 · Function Words

或者 huòzhě “or” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 或者 means

  1. or
  2. possible
  3. maybe
  4. perhaps
  5. possibly

How to say 或者

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale或huò4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale者zhě3rd tone, dipping

或者 in a sentence

  1. 要加点牛奶或者糖吗？

    Yào jiā diǎn niúnǎi huòzhě táng ma?

    Would you like some milk or sugar?

    Sentence #13901003 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他走路或者骑车过来。

    Tā zǒulù huòzhě qíchē guòlai.

    He’ll come on foot or by bike.

    Sentence #791438 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 先生，请出示护照或者身份证，让我登记一下。

    Xiānsheng, qǐng chūshì hùzhào huòzhě shēnfènzhèng, ràng wǒ dēngjì yíxià.

    Sir, please show your passport or ID card so I can register you.

    Sentence #420454 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 或者 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 或 (huò) with each of its parts in a different colour
或huòmaybe
  • 戈halberd · gē
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 一one · yī
The character 者 (zhě) with each of its parts in a different colour
者zhěone who …
  • 耂old form of 老 · lǎo
  • 日sun · rì

How to write 或者

或 8 strokes · 者 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

或者 (huòzhě) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 或者 (huòzhě). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 或者

Words with 或

或huò · or或许huòxǔ · perhaps

Words with 者

者zhě · (suffix) person who …作者zuòzhě · author记者jìzhě · reporter志愿者zhìyuànzhě · volunteer患者huànzhě · patient

More words: Particles & Connectors

跟gēn · to follow关于guānyú · about还是háishi · or还huán · to return然后ránhòu · then如果rúguǒ · if为wèi · for为了wèile · in order to

FAQs

或者 (huòzhě) means “or” or “possible”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it huòzhě: huò with a 4th tone, then zhě with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 或者 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type huozhe with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 或者 from the suggestions. Typing huozhe into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
或者 is an HSK 3 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.