I am studying the use of "て・でもいいですか”, but the meaning of this sentences is not
obvious to me : コーヒーがないんですがお茶でもいいですか。

Does it means "I don't have coffee, can I have tea ?" (asking for a
permission) or "There is no coffee, but would like tea ?" (offering a
suggestion) ?

Does the "て・でもいいですか" means not only the permission asking but also the
suggestion ?
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2021-02-12T16:15:54.637
84164
2021-02-12T16:53:04.740
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question
grammar
でもいいですか for permission or suggestion?
I think I've understood your confusion. When you say "I don't **have** coffee,
can I have tea ?" are you thinking that the first 'have' would be equivalent
to "I don't **drink/take** coffee"? Perhaps my understanding was biased by
having read the Japanese sentence first, but I think this would be quite a
confusing thing to say even in English.

ない doesn't have that meaning. It denotes existence or possession. So the only
reasonable interpretation of this sentence is "I don't have coffee. Will tea
be okay?".
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2021-02-12T16:53:04.740
84165
2021-02-12T16:53:04.740
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answer