Chinese · Basic Sentence Structure

和, 还是 or 或者

English 'and' and 'or' do not map one to one onto Chinese.

和 (hé) means 'and', but it joins only nouns and pronouns: 我和我妹妹 (my younger sister and I), 苹果和香蕉 (apples and bananas). In speech 跟 works the same way. Neither can join two clauses.
还是 (háishi) means 'or' in questions that offer a choice: 你喝茶还是喝咖啡？ (Do you drink tea or coffee?). Such a question takes no 吗.
或者 (huòzhě) means 'or' in statements that list possibilities: 你可以今天来，或者明天来 (You can come today or tomorrow).

Quick check: a question with two options to choose from → 还是; a statement with two possibilities → 或者; two things or people together → 和.

Examples

我我妹妹都喜欢猫。Show answer

我和我妹妹都喜欢猫。

你喝茶喝咖啡？Show answer

你喝茶还是喝咖啡？

你可以今天来，明天来。Show answer

你可以今天来，或者明天来。

爸爸妈妈都是医生。Show answer

爸爸和妈妈都是医生。

你是老师学生？Show answer

你是老师还是学生？

我们可以坐地铁去，打车去。Show answer

我们可以坐地铁去，或者打车去。

我买了苹果香蕉。Show answer

我买了苹果和香蕉。

你今天去明天去？Show answer

你今天去还是明天去？

你可以给我打电话，发邮件。Show answer

你可以给我打电话，或者发邮件。

我小王是好朋友。Show answer

我和小王是好朋友。