아니면

Korean

Etymology

아니 (ani-, “to not be”) +‎ 면 (-myeon, “if”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [a̠nimjʌ̹n]
• Phonetic hangul: [아니면]

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?