或

huò
#160 most
frequent character
or
conjunction

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

或 shows a bordered area with a dagger-axe 戈 guarding it, so it first meant 'area, region'. The meaning grew to 'country, state'. The sense 'someone, something' was borrowed for its sound alone, and from there came 'or'.

Drawn as: area with border; weapon for protection

或 as a component in other characters

sound3 characters
域惑蜮
picture3 characters
域阈馘

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Example Sentences

你要喝茶或咖啡吗？
nǐyào hēchá huò kāfēi ma ？
Do you want to drink tea or coffee?
我们可以去游泳或散步。
wǒmen kěyǐ qù yóuyǒng huò sànbù 。
We can go swimming or take a walk.
他喜欢猫或狗。
tā xǐhuān māo huò gǒu 。
He likes cats or dogs.

Grammar Points

HSK 3
Expressing "or" in statements

Homophones

货huò
goods, commodity, money
获huò
obtain, win, reap, capture, catch
获huò
obtain, win, reap, capture, catch
霍huò
(literary) suddenly
惑huò
to confuse, to be puzzled

Words Starting With 或

或者huò zhě
or; possibly; maybe; perhaps
或许huò xǔ
perhaps; maybe

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