Meaning of 要么
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- or
- either one or the other
How to use 要么
要么 usually comes in pairs, 要么 A，要么 B, to give two choices and suggest there is no third option. It often sounds firm or a little impatient. Example: 要么你去，要么我去。(Yàome nǐ qù, yàome wǒ qù.) Either you go or I go.
要 (yào) means "want" and 么 (me) is the light ending you also see in 什么 (shénme). Picture someone saying "Want this? Want that?" and you get 要么...要么..., "either this or that."
Common mistake: Learners often use 要么 in questions, but for "A or B?" in a question you need 还是 (háishi), as in 你喝茶还是咖啡？ Also keep the second syllable in the neutral tone: say yàome, not yàomé.
要么 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
要 yào · to want · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
么 me · interrogative particle · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 要么.
| 什么 | shénme | what?; something; anything |
| 怎么 | zěnme | how?; what? |
| 重要 | zhòngyào | important; significant; major |
| 干什么 | gàn shénme | what are you doing?; what's he up to? |
| 没什么 | méi shénme | it doesn't matter; it's nothing; never mind; think nothing of it; it's my pleasure; you're |
| 为什么 | wèi shénme | why?; for what reason? |
| 不要 | bùyào | don't!; must not |
| 这么 | zhème | so much; this much |
| 那么 | nàme | like that; in that way; to that extent; (before a number) ... or so; about ... |
| 怎么样 | zěnmeyàng | how?; how about? |
| 只要 | zhǐyào | so long as; provided; if |
| 怎么办 | zěnme bàn | what's to be done |
Questions about 要么
What does 要么 mean?
要么 (yàome) means "or; either one or the other" and is used as a conjunction.
How do you write 要么?
要么 is made of 2 characters: 要 (9 strokes), 么 (3 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 要么 an HSK word?
Yes. 要么 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 要么 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 要么 is written 要麼.
What is the difference between 要么 and 或者?
或者 (huòzhě) simply offers options in statements and can be used once, as in 明天或者后天. 要么 is usually repeated, 要么...要么..., and stresses that you must pick one of the two. It often sounds more decisive.
Can 要么 be used just once in a sentence?
Yes. A single 要么 can introduce an alternative suggestion after a first idea, as in 太晚了，要么明天再说吧。(Tài wǎn le, yàome míngtiān zài shuō ba.) It's too late, maybe we talk tomorrow instead. Here it means something like "or else" or "how about."