या तो ... या

Either ... or

Level 3Sounds Like yā tō ... yā

या तो ... या offers exactly two choices: either this or that.

How It Works

A plain या offers a choice. या तो ... या makes it firmer: one of these two, and nothing else.

  • या तो चाय लो या कॉफ़ी. Have either tea or coffee.
  • या तो तुम यहाँ आ जाओ, या मैं वहाँ आ जाता हूँ. Either you come here, or I'll come over there.

Put या तो right before the first choice and या before the second. The choices can be single words, phrases or whole clauses. With short choices, one verb is enough. With clauses, each part has its own verb, and a comma usually comes before the second या.

The second या is often या फिर, especially in warnings: या तो अभी होमवर्क करो, या फिर टीवी नहीं मिलेगा.

या तो can also come after the subject: हम या तो शनिवार को चलेंगे या रविवार को. For the opposite idea, neither ... nor, Hindi uses न ... न: न चाय, न कॉफ़ी.

Examples (5)

  1. या तो चाय लीजिए या कॉफ़ी।

    Have either tea or coffee.

    या तो comes before the first choice and या before the second.

  2. हम या तो शनिवार को चलेंगे या रविवार को।

    We'll go either on Saturday or on Sunday.

    या तो can come after the subject.

  3. या तो अभी होमवर्क करो, या फिर टीवी नहीं मिलेगा।

    Either you do your homework now, or there's no TV.

    In a warning, the second choice often starts with या फिर.

  4. वह या तो घर पर होगा या दफ़्तर में।

    He must be either at home or at the office.

    The choices here are two places.

  5. या तो तुम यहाँ आ जाओ, या मैं वहाँ आ जाता हूँ।

    Either you come here, or I'll come over there.

    With two clauses, each choice has its own verb.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

या तो ... याLevel 3Either ... or

Learn This First

Either ... or adds तो to the simple या.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

यातो