아니면

Korean

Etymology

아니 (ani-, to not be) + (-myeon, if).

Pronunciation

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?animyeon
Revised Romanization (translit.)?animyeon
McCune–Reischauer?animyŏn
Yale Romanization?animyen

Adverb

아니면 • (animyeon)

  1. or; if not
    맥주 먹을래, 아니면 위스키 먹을래?
    maekju meogeullae, animyeon wiseuki meogeullae?
    Do you want to drink beer, or whisky?
    (literally, “Do [you] want to drink beer? If not, do [you] want to drink whisky?”)

Usage notes

In Korean, the mere juxtaposition of incompatible clauses implies a choice between them. Hence 아니면 is not grammatically necessary in the same way that the English "or" is. The example below is also grammatical and idiomatic:

맥주 먹을래, 위스키 먹을래?
maekju meogeullae, wiseuki meogeullae?
Do you want to drink beer, or whisky?
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