15305
I came across the construction ～なり～なり (meaning either... or...) on
[JGram](http://www.popjisyo.com/WebHint/AddHint.aspx?d=7&r=jg&s=0&e=Shift_JIS&u=http://www.jgram.org/pages/viewOne.php?tagE=nari%7Enari)
and I saw this example:

> ジュースなりコーラなり、お好きなものをどうぞ  
>  juice.. cola.. have whatever you like

That made me wonder what the difference is in this case if か is used instead:

> ジュースかコーラか、お好きなものをどうぞ

Is it maybe a difference of register? Or does it have a different meaning?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2014-04-08T10:01:47.587
15302
2022-01-30T23:43:26.353
2022-01-30T23:43:26.353
30454
4793
question
word-choice nuances register
Difference between なり (meaning 'either.. or...') and か (meaning 'or')
The first sentence 「ジュースなりコーラなり、お[好]{す}きなものをどうぞ。」 is perfectly natural. It is
asking you to choose whatever you want to drink and "juice" and "cola" are
only two examples of what is available. Point is you have other choices as
well.

The second sentence is different. By using 「か」, the speaker is giving the
addressee two choices only --- "juice" and "cola". For this reason, the
sentence is NOT very natural with the word choice of 「もの」. To use 「お好きなもの」,
one needs to have at least three choices. Thus, the 「もの」 needs to be replaced
by 「[方]{ほう}」. 「お好きな方」 means "the one you prefer among the two".

> 「ジュースかコーラか、お好きな方をどうぞ。」
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-08T10:39:59.657
15305
2014-04-08T10:39:59.657
15302
answer