Meaning
maybe; perhaps; might; possibly; or
Chinese: 或者、也许。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “huo” becomes a different word in each tone. 或 is the 4th tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 或者huò zhěor; possibly; maybe; perhaps
- 或许huò xǔperhaps; maybe
- 或是huò shìor; either one or the other
- 或多或少huò duō huò shǎomore or less
- 或然huò ránprobable
Example Sentence
你可以喝茶或者咖啡。Nǐ kě yǐ hē chá huò zhě kā fēi.You can drink tea or coffee.
你Nǐyou可以kě yǐcan喝茶hē cháto drink tea或者huò zhěor咖啡kā fēi(loanword) coffee。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A dagger-axe (戈) guarding a bordered area (口 + 一): this was the original ‘territory’ (now 域/國). Borrowed for ‘or; perhaps, maybe; someone, some’ (或者, 或许).
A way to remember it
‘Or / perhaps’: 你或我 (you or me), 或许 (maybe).
Easy to confuse with
- 国‘Country’: 或 grew the outer wall 囗 and became 國 → simplified 国.