4 · Linking clauses
Either … or: búshì … jiùshì
one of two, and nothing else
Búshì A, jiùshì B says it is certainly one or the other, or that it is always one or the other; búshì A, érshì B corrects A to B.
At a glance
- Remember
- Búshì … jiùshì: one or the other, surely or always. Búshì … érshì: not this, but that.
- Form
- 不是…，就是…either A or B (one of them, surely)
- Signal words
- 不是…就是…
- 不是…而是…
- 要么…要么…
- Trap
- Wrong:他不是我哥哥，就是我弟弟。Right:他不是我哥哥，而是我弟弟。
Your turn
8 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| either A or B (one of them, surely) | 不是…，就是… |
| always one or the other | 不是刮风就是下雨 |
| not A but B (a correction) | 不是…，而是… |
| either … or (a choice) | 要么…，要么… |
| or (plain) | …或者… |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Búshì A, jiùshì B: it is certainly one of the two, though the speaker may not know which.
这本书不是小张的，就是小李的。This book is either Xiao Zhang’s or Xiao Li’s.
Describing a habit, it says it is always one or the other — often as a complaint.
他每天不是玩游戏，就是看视频。Every day he’s either playing games or watching videos.
The subject stands before búshì, and the two halves are parallel.
周末我不是在家看书，就是去爬山。At weekends I either stay in and read or go walking in the hills.
To correct A to B, use búshì … érshì, not búshì … jiùshì.
他不是不想来，而是没有时间。It isn’t that he doesn’t want to come — he has no time.
Example sentences
他这会儿不是在图书馆，就是在食堂。Right now he’s either in the library or in the canteen.
这个月不是下雨就是下雪，没有一天是晴天。This month it has either rained or snowed — not a single clear day.
给他打电话，不是占线，就是没人接。Whenever I ring him, the line is either busy or nobody answers.
他的孩子不是哭，就是闹，一刻也不停。If his child isn’t crying, he’s playing up — he never stops.
钥匙不是在桌子上，就是在你的包里。The keys are either on the table or in your bag.
我们公司的会不是太长，就是太多。The meetings at our company are either too long or too many.
7 more example sentences
他说的话不是真的，就是假的，你得自己判断。What he says is either true or false — you have to judge for yourself.
放假的时候我不是睡觉就是吃东西。On holiday I do nothing but sleep and eat.
来的人不是学生，就是老师。Everyone who came was either a student or a teacher.
这条路上的车不是太快，就是太多。The traffic on this road is either too fast or too heavy.
要么今天做完，要么明天早上交，你选吧。Either finish it today or hand it in tomorrow morning — you choose.
问题不是钱不够，而是时间不够。The problem isn’t a lack of money but a lack of time.
那家店的东西不是太贵就是质量不好。Everything in that shop is either overpriced or badly made.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
If the meaning is “he isn’t my older brother, he’s my younger brother”, the first half is a mistake being corrected, and that is 不是…而是…. With 就是 the sentence would mean “he is either my older or my younger brother” — both still open.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
不是 A, 就是 B is literally “if it isn’t A, then it is B”. It leaves exactly two possibilities and rules out everything else: 他现在不是在家，就是在公司, “he’s either at home or at the office”. The speaker does not know which, and is sure it is one of them.
Its second use describes a pattern: whatever the moment, it is always one of the two. 这几天不是刮风就是下雨, “these last few days it has been either windy or wet” — one or the other, never a fine day. Used like this it often sounds like a complaint, as English “if it isn’t one thing, it’s another” does.
The two halves are usually parallel — two places, two activities, two qualities — and they share the subject, which stands in front of 不是. A comma may separate them, or not, when they are short. 不是 is read with the changed tone, bú, because 是 is in the fourth tone.
The trap is its look-alike, 不是 A 而是 B, “not A but B”, which corrects a mistake: A is false, B is true. 就是 leaves both open; 而是 rules A out. And for a choice the listener is to make, “either … or” is 要么 … 要么, or simply 或者.
A closer look
Three kinds of “or”
不是…就是… is a judgement: the speaker has narrowed the world down to two. 要么…要么… is a choice put to someone: 要么你去，要么我去, “either you go or I do”. 或者 is the plain “or” of a statement, and 还是 the “or” of a question.
The first one carries feeling that the others lack. Said of somebody’s habits — 不是迟到就是早退, “either late or leaving early” — it sums them up, and rarely kindly.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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就是 stands alone, without 不是 before it
it means “precisely, exactly” or “simply”, not “or”.
这就是我要的那本书。This is exactly the book I wanted.
The “or” meaning comes from the pair: “if not A, then precisely B”. Without the first half there is nothing to choose between.
Worth knowing (1)
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Not that …, it’s that …
不是…而是… often corrects a reason rather than a fact: 不是我不想…, “it’s not that I don’t want to …”. In speech the second half often begins with 是 alone, without 而.
不是我不帮你，是我真的不会。It’s not that I won’t help you — I really don’t know how.
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