Conjunctions

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that join phrases belonging to the same grammatical category and indicate a relationship between them.

Conjunctions that indicate an ‘additive’ or ‘and’ relationship

和

王明和李燕是大学生。

跟

北京跟上海都是很值得去看的地方。

同 – more common in southern China, not common in the north

我同他的关系很不错。

与 – often used in literary phrases

我们对中国的文化与历史都很有兴趣。

Conjunctions that indicate a disjunctive or ‘or’ relationship

还是

还是is used in questions that ask the addressee to choose between two alternatives, only one of which can be true or possible. It conveys the sense of ‘either…or’

Example:

你是来旅游还是来学习的？我是来学习。

你想喝红茶还是喝绿茶？我想喝绿茶。

或者

或者is used in statements to present two alternatives, both of which are possible.

Example:

你要今天去长城还是明天去长城？今天去或者明天去都行。

Note:

Mandarin conjunctions are much more restricted than English conjunctions in the grammatical categories that they join. In Mandarin, the ‘and’ conjunctions only join noun phrases. The ‘or’ conjunctions only join verb phrases.