-(이)나, 아니면, -거나 |

-(이)나, 아니면, -거나 

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The word "or" can be used to link nouns, adverbs, adjectives, verbs or even sentences. You don't need to use a different expression for all of these different usages in English, but in korean, depending on what kind of word you are linking, the translations for "or" can be different.

Noun + OR + noun

In order to link two nouns, you need to use -(ㅇ)나.

Ex)

공원이나 영화관

a park or a movie theater

학생이나 선생닌

a student or a teacher

여기나 저기

here or there

You can also use the word 아니면 which originally literally means "if not"

Ex)

공원 아니면 영화관

학생 아니면 선생님

여기 아니면 저기

Verb + OR + verb

Since adjectives are essentially descriptive verbs in korean, adjectives and verbs are linked in the same manner. After verb stems, you need to use -거나.

Ex) 

먹거나

eat or...

전화하거나

make a call or ...

집에 가거니

go home or ...

The tense is expressed through the last verb, so the last verb has to be conjugated accordingly to show the tense of the entire sentence.

집에 가거나 친구를 만날 거예요.

I will (either) go home or meet my friends.

Sometimes people add -거나 to all the sentences and in that case, they use the verb 하다 to finish the sentence.

Ex)

집에 가거나 친구를 만나거나 할 거예요.

In addition to using -거나 at the end of the sentence, you can add 아니면 as well between the two actions.

Ex)

집에 가거나 아니면 친구를 만날 거예요.

* There are other ways of saying "or" with verbs such as -든지 and "-든가"

Sentence + OR + Sentence

When you want to say "or" between two sentences, you simply use 아니면.

Ex)

집에 갈 거예요? 아니면 친구를 만날 거예요?

Are you going home? Or are you going to meet your friends?

이거 살 거예요? 아니면 다른 거 살 거예요?

Are you going to buy this? Or are you going to buy something else?