DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

或是

Mandarin · pinyin huò shì

or
either one or the other

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

或: huò · or, either, else; perhaps, maybe
是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–4 · huo4 shi4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links2same-tone records

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

或是 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

conj

either ... or ...; or

phrase

(literary) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see 或 (huò), 是 (shì) — may be; perhaps is

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack