Conjunctions are words that join phrases belonging to the same grammatical category and indicate a relationship between them. Mandarin conjunctions include the following.
王明和李安是大学生。
王明和李安是大學生。
Wáng Míng hé Lǐ Ān shì dàxuéshēng.
Wang Ming and Li An are college students.
北京跟上海都是很值得去看的地方。
Běijīng gēn Shànghǎi dōu shì hěn zhíde qù kàn de dìfang.
Beijing and Shanghai are both places worth seeing.
跟 gēn also functions as a preposition.
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我同他的关系很不错。
我同他的關係很不錯。
Wǒ tóng tā de guānxi hěn bù cuò.
The relationship between him and me is not bad (really good).
我们对中国的文化与历史都很有兴趣。
我們對中國的文化與歷史都很有興趣。
Wǒmen duì Zhōngguó de wénhuà yǔ lìshǐ dōu hěn yǒu xīngqù.
We are really interested in Chinese culture and history.
NOTE
同 tóng is used in southern China and is not common in the north. 与/與 yǔ is used in literary phrases.
还是/還是 háishi 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.’ 还是/還是 háishi questions often end with 呢 ne.
| Q: | 你是来旅游的还是来学习的？ | A: | 我是来学习的。 |
| 你是來旅遊的還是來學習的？ | 我是來學習的。 | ||
| Nǐ shì lái lǚyóu de háishi lái xuéxí de? | Wǒ shì lái xuéxí de. | ||
| Did you come for vacation or to study? | I came to study. | ||
| Q: | 你要喝红茶还是喝花茶呢？ | A: | 我要喝红茶。 |
| 你要喝紅茶還是喝花茶呢？ | 我要喝紅茶。 | ||
| Nǐ yào hē hóng chá háishi hē huā chá ne? | Wǒ yào hē hóng chá. | ||
| Do you want to drink black tea or jasmine tea? | I want to drink black tea. | ||
| (In Chinese: red tea or jasmine tea?) |
还是/還是 háishi precedes verb phrases. However, if the second verb phrase begins with 是 shì, 是 shì is usually omitted.
| Q: | 你是美国人还是英国人呢？ | A: | 我是美国人。 |
| 你是美國人還是英國人呢？ | 我是美國人。 | ||
| Nǐ shì Měiguórén háishi Yīngguórén ne? | Wǒ shì Měiguórén. | ||
| Are you American or British? | I’m American. |
还是/還是 háishi is sometimes included in an answer to a 还是/還是 háishi question to mark the preferred alternative. In this usage, 还是/還是 háishi functions as an adverb and not as a conjunction.
| Q: | 你想这个问题，是现在讨论好 | A: | 我想还是以后再讨论好。 |
| 还是以后再讨论好？ | |||
| 你想這個問題，是現在討論好 | 我想還是以後再討論好。 | ||
| 還是以後再討論好？ | |||
| Nǐ xiǎng zhège wèntí, shì xiànzài tǎolùn | Wǒ xiǎng háishi yǐhòu | ||
| hǎo háishi yǐhòu zài tǎolùn hǎo? | zài tǎolùn hǎo. | ||
| (As for) this question, do you think | I think we should talk | ||
| we should talk about it now or later? | about it later. |
或者 huòzhě ‘or’ is used in statements to present two alternatives, both of which are possible.
| Q: | 你要今天去长城还是明天去长城？ | A: | 今天去或者明天去都行。 |
| 你要今天去長城還是明天去長城？ | |||
| Nǐ yào jīntiān qù Chángchéng háishi | Jīntiān qù huòzhě | ||
| míngtiān qù Chángchéng? | míngtiān qù dōu xíng. | ||
| Do you want to go to the Great Wall today or tomorrow? | Today and tomorrow are both okay. |
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.
Most Mandarin connecting words are adverbs. They are presented in the relevant chapters on sentence connection.