ding6 jiu3定要
Jyutpingding6 jiu3
Yaledihng yiu
Definition
Or, used in a question when asking someone to choose what they want from available options.
colloquialdaily actions
How it's used
Use this to present a binary choice in questions where the speaker is asking for a preference. It is strictly for interrogative structures and cannot be used to connect statements like 'I want coffee or tea'.
Examples
Do you want to drink coffee or milk tea?
Should we have rice or noodles for dinner tonight?
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse this with 或者, which is used for statements or suggestions rather than direct questions. Using 或者 in a question to ask for a preference sounds unnatural and overly formal.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
