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Offering Alternatives

Level 1

Look for the question or context to decide whether the alternatives are a request or a list.

How It Works

چائے یا کافی؟ asks the listener to choose between tea and coffee. This short question does not need a spoken verb.

In آپ بس سے یا ٹرین سے جاتے ہیں؟, یا joins two ways of travelling. The word سے is repeated with each option.

It can describe possibilities: وہ گھر میں یا دفتر میں ہے. The person is in one of the two places.

A question such as یہ دکان ہے یا دفتر؟ asks which description fits. Compare اور, which joins the listed items together.

چائے یا کافی؟
Tea or coffee?
This short question asks for a choice.
آپ بس سے یا ٹرین سے جاتے ہیں؟
Do you travel by bus or train?
This question asks a man respectfully to choose between two usual ways of travelling.
وہ گھر میں یا دفتر میں ہے۔
That person is at home or in the office.
یا presents two possible locations for one person.
یہ دکان ہے یا دفتر؟
Is this a shop or an office?
The question asks which of the two descriptions fits.

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

یاLevel 1Offering Alternatives

Recognize the joined units before presenting them as alternatives.

Patterns that build on this one.

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