An alternative question is a question that asks the respondent to choose between two options. In the case of alternative questions with two words from the same class combined with “or,” the two options are words that belong to the same grammatical category. For example, you could ask the following alternative question:
Do you prefer to eat fish or chicken?
In this question, the two options are “fish” and “chicken,” which are both nouns.
In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 14 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as:
alternative questions with two words from the same class combined with ‘or’.
Using corpus data and AI, we got the following examples. However, not all of them expect the listener to respond with one of the alternatives.
NOUNS
- Are you looking for a product or service that can help you with your homework? (We could answer this with: “No”)
- Do you have any questions or comments about our latest newsletter?
- Is this story based on fact or fiction?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of different products or services in the market?
- How do you choose between a college or university for your higher education?
- Who do you spend more time with, your friends or family?
- How can you tell if someone is a friend or foe?
- Which currency do you prefer, dollars or pounds?
- Which device do you use more often, your iPhone or iPad?
- How do you address your boss, as a friend or colleague?
ADJECTIVES
- Is it true or false that the earth is flat?
- Is it good or bad to eat fast food every day?
- Is it safe or unsafe to swim in the ocean during a storm?
- Is the news positive or negative today?
- Is this video real or fake?
- Is the new version of this product better or worse than the old one?
- Is it right or wrong to cheat on a test?
- Do you want to buy a new or used car?
- Is the animal dead or alive?
- Is the price high or low for this product?
ADVERBS
- Did you only do it once or twice?
- Will you do it sooner or later?
- Did you get the information directly or indirectly?
- Is it faster or slower to take the highway?
- Did the news affect you positively or negatively?
- Is it easier or harder to learn a new language as an adult?
- Did the problem come from internally or externally?
- Do you prefer to work on things personally or professionally?
- Did you finish the project quickly or slowly?
- Did he mean that literally or figuratively?
*note that there is a b1 point for two clauses joined with ‘or’ in a question.
A few searches on iWeb for:
_NN or NN ?
1 PRODUCT OR SERVICE? 1217
2 QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? 680
3 FACT OR FICTION? 661
4 PRODUCTS OR SERVICES? 517
5 COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY? 330
6 FRIENDS OR FAMILY? 298
7 FRIEND OR FOE? 272
8 DOLLARS OR POUNDS? 263
9 IPHONE OR IPAD? 261
10 FRIEND OR COLLEAGUE? 253
11 QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS? 251
12 PHONE OR TABLET? 243
13 HOME OR OFFICE? 231
14 IDEAS OR SUGGESTIONS? 220
15 FAMILY OR FRIENDS? 220
16 THOUGHTS OR SUGGESTIONS? 209
17 BOY OR GIRL? 178
18 HOME OR BUSINESS ? 174
19 MEN OR WOMEN ? 168
20 SMARTPHONE OR TABLET ? 167
21 DOG OR CAT ? 161
22 DAY OR NIGHT ? 161
23 SON OR DAUGHTER ? 142
24 CIGARETTES OR WEED ? 137
25 SCHOOL OR COLLEGE ? 135
26 MALE OR FEMALE ? 131
27 USERNAME OR PASSWORD ? 127
28 MAN OR WOMAN ? 125
29 BLOG OR WEBSITE ? 122
30 SUCCESS OR FAILURE ? 120
31 TIPS OR TRICKS ? 119
32 MONTHS OR YEARS ? 117
33 BROTHER OR SISTER ? 117
34 LUNCH OR DINNER ? 116
35 WORK OR SCHOOL? 113
36 WEEKS OR MONTHS? 109
37 IMPROVEMENTS OR IDEAS? 105
38 TIPS OR SUGGESTIONS? 103
39 COMMENTS OR SUGGESTIONS? 103
40 CAR OR TRUCK? 103
41 IOS OR ANDROID? 96
42 TIPS OR ADVICE? 94
43 GOODS OR SERVICES? 91
44 DRUGS OR ALCOHOL? 90
45 THOUGHTS OR ADVICE? 89
Would you have had any thoughts or advice for him?
_JJ or _JJ ?
1 TRUE OR FALSE? 2372
2 GOOD OR BAD? 2125
3 SAFE OR UNSAFE? 588
4 POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE? 377
5 REAL OR FAKE? 244
6 BETTER OR WORSE? 206
7 RIGHT OR WRONG? 201
8 NEW OR USED? 184
9 DEAD OR ALIVE? 180
10 HIGH OR LOW? 171
11 HOT OR COLD? 160
12 ALIVE OR DEAD? 107
13 LARGE OR SMALL? 100
14 HAPPY OR SAD? 100
15 BIG OR SMALL? 91
_RR or _RR ?
1 ONCE OR TWICE? 97
2 SOONER OR LATER? 91
3 DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY? 70
4 FASTER OR SLOWER? 61
5 POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY? 49
6 EASIER OR HARDER? 41
7 INTERNALLY OR EXTERNALLY? 36
8 PERSONALLY OR PROFESSIONALLY? 33
9 QUICKLY OR SLOWLY? 33
10 LITERALLY OR FIGURATIVELY? 32
A2:
advice, alcohol, cigarettes, colleague, college, dead, fact, high, ideas, large, low, negative, office, once, pounds, quickly, real, slowly, true, twice, worse
EXPERT EXAMPLES:
Is there a tendency to put too much emphasis on what‘s considered proper or correct?
One topic that often comes up with students of writing is:
How can I develop my style or voice in writing?