Using あるいは

[oyayubi]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post in the forums. After getting a minor in Japanese in college, I saw this site as a chance to re-learn everything from before, and hopefully open up some business opportunities for me using Japanese. I have really enjoyed the beginner lessons so far, and am looking forward to using the PDFs to learn more.

I have listened to almost all of the beginner lessons, and I have a question about あるいは from lesson 158. It was mentioned during the podcast that あるいは (meaning 'or') is not used too often in normal Japanese. What other methods would you recommend to say 'or' in a sentence? I guess it is different depending on whether it is used in a question or an answer.

Thanks in advance!

よろしくお願いします、
親指　"Thumbs"

[Belton]

So far I tend to use か、except for a specific construction for comparisons or choices.

A choice of two actions or states.
I'd make two sentences using か (nearest to how I'd have made the sentence in B158)

車は赤いですか？白いですか？
Is the car red or (is it) white?
Although I see no reason not to say 車は赤いか白いですか？

When listing nouns I'd use か、

車か自転車か駅の前にあります。
There is a car or a bicycle in front of the station.
(although I'm not sure how mutually exclusive this is. there is either a car or a bike (not both). or are you just listing possibilities? where maybe 車か自転車か駅の前にあるでしょう。might be better)
(や would mean there is a car and a bike (and other vehicles) in front of the station.
と would mean there is only a car and a bike in front of the station. )

When making comparisons I'd use と

--edit : this is incorrect see below--
お茶とコーヒーとお水とどちらが高いですが？
Which more expensive tea or coffee or water?
------------------------------------------

I've also come across なり　and とも used where "or" is used in English.

Often I think small and common words are difficult to translate.

[jkeyz15]

お水とお茶とコーヒーで どれが高いでしょうか？
might be a better sentence for such a question

The deshou doesn't matter much, the で　is the important part.

Edit: fixed the sentence. Change どちら to どれ
「どれ」に「どちら」を変えて例文は直しました。

[dmr214]

I'm not an expert on あるいは　however from my experience, this is mostly used to state 2 different reasons to make one point. In addition I feel that it's formal.

My recommendation, if you would like to use OR like this (2 points together) but not be as formal then you can use:

其れ共 【それとも】 (conj) or; or else;

If you want to state that you have choices to something you can say what jkeyz15 did. Or you can use かas a particle marker. For example

It's coffee or Tea: コーヒーかおちゃです

が Ａｎｄ　けど　of course have similar uses to それおとも Ａｎｄ　あるいは　but tend to be used more frequently and imply more of what is left unsaid. あるいは　has 2 distinct parts and should not have more or less than those parts.

HTHs
Dave

[Javizy]

お水とお茶とコーヒーでどちらが高いでしょうか？
might be a better sentence for such a question

The deshou doesn't matter much, the で　is the important part.

どちら is used when there are two options. どれ should be used in that sentence since there are three.

[Belton]

I extrapolated an example incorrectly when making an example, going one item too far.

I said it was what I'd write not that I was correct (^^)

どちら -- which of two.

お茶とコーヒーとどちらが高いですか？

どれ　-- which of many.

I should quit while I'm ahead now.

The example construction with どれ would be
飲み物の中でどれが高いですか？

and I am now unsure of the choice between
お茶とコーヒーとお水とどれが高いですが？
and
お茶とコーヒーとお水の中でどれが高いですが？
and haven't the time to go checking.

[jkeyz15]

お水とお茶とコーヒーでどちらが高いでしょうか？
might be a better sentence for such a question

The deshou doesn't matter much, the で　is the important part.

どちら is used when there are two options. どれ should be used in that sentence since there are three.

haha.....yeah didn't catch that. 'll fix it now.

[oyayubi]

Thanks everyone, I'll try to apply these suggestions as soon as I can.