それとも Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Conjunction
Essential Meaning: Or / Either ~ Or ~
Construction: Sentence 1. それとも Sentence 2.
Notes:
- それとも is a conjunction that combines two statements or two questions that represent two alternatives (i.e. “Either X or Y“). It is typically paired with the か particle (which marks alternatives) and / or with どちらか [Either one / One of those].
- E.g. Two alternative questions: 刺身を食べますか。それともすきやきにしますか。[Shall we eat sashimi, or shall we go with sukiyaki?]
- E.g. Two alternative statements: 僕が来るか。それとも村井さんが来るかどちらかです。[I will come, or Murai-san will come. It will be one of those two.]
- When the two alternatives are statements (rather than questions), それとも may be omitted altogether if it is clear from context (e.g. via か or どちらか) that the two statements are alternatives.
- E.g. この本が間違っているか。(それとも) 私が間違っているかどちらかだ。[Either this book is wrong, or I am wrong. It’s one of those two.]
- If the context is clear, questions that involve それとも may be abbreviated. For example, instead of saying “Shall we play basketball or shall we play football?“, one could simply say “Basketball or football?” if it is clear from context that you are choosing between sports to play.
- E.g. Regular Version: 刺身を食べますか。それともすきやきにしますか。[Shall we eat sashimi, or shall we go with sukiyaki?]
- E.g. Abbreviated Version: 刺身? それともすきやき? [Sashimi or sukiyaki?]
Example Sentences:
この本が間違っているか。それとも私が間違っているかどちらかだ。[Either this book is wrong, or I am wrong. It’s one of those two.]
刺身を食べますか。それともすきやきにしますか。[Shall we eat sashimi, or shall we go with sukiyaki?]
僕が来るか。それとも村井さんが来るかどちらかです。[I will come, or Murai-san will come. It will be one of those two.]
あの人は先生ですか。それとも医者ですか。[Is that person a teacher, or is he a doctor?]
WILD Examples:
***YouTube videos may be region-locked depending on your country of origin. If you experience issues, please try using a VPN set to a United States IP address.***