<p>The preferred rendition for disambiguation would be actually be 没梦想、没希望. Please note the pause mark (as opposed to the comma) and the symmetric syllabic structure, in addition to the repetition of 没. </p>

<p>This is in line with other "balanced" repeated structures in modern standard Mandarin Chinese, such as 又…又… and 连…也…</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-27T10:14:01.810Z
2015-11-27T10:14:01.810Z
Michaelyus
<p>Generally as others stated, negating like this causes ambiguity. </p>

<p>However in this specific case, 梦想和希望 sounds like an idiom-like word to me, they work together as one phrase, like "bread and butter". So at least to me, 没有梦想和希望 means neither</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-07T13:11:58.647Z
2015-12-07T13:11:58.647Z
jf328
<p>in oral, 没有希望和/或梦想could be the same for understanding. But in some cases which require very strict expression, legal document or scientific papers, for example, 和and或are different</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-27T06:27:22.593Z
2015-11-27T06:27:22.593Z
gcd0318
<p>In most cases we'll use <code>和</code> for your example.</p>

<p><code>和</code> is used to describe things that share some features in common, like in your example, <code>梦想</code> and <code>希望</code> are similar in that there both don't exists in that situation. It corresponds to 'both', 'all', 'neither', etc. So it doesn't matter whether the feature is 'negative' or not.</p>

<p><code>或</code> is used to describe one of the things to have the feature. It's like 'either' in English.</p>

<p>Furthermore, there is another difference between them. Sometimes <code>和</code> emphasizes that the whole owns the feature, not part of it, while <code>或</code> means either part has the same property, too. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-20T09:19:43.973Z
2015-12-20T09:19:43.973Z
Hao Lu
<p>Personally I would rather use <code>没有梦，也没有希望</code>, since <code>nor</code> can translate to <code>也没有</code>. Or just use <code>没有梦，没有希望</code>.</p>

<p>Use negative word with <code>和</code> or <code>或</code> both means "nothing mentioned are available". In most cases we use <code>没有……和……</code>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-04T06:32:18.243Z
2015-12-04T06:32:18.243Z
Jamesits
<p>No hopes or dreams should be 没有希望，也没有梦想
It is referring 'no' to both hopes and dreams. Despite the usage of 'or' in English form, it shouldn't be direct translation to Chinese using 或。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-21T11:42:05.027Z
2015-12-21T13:02:17.303Z
2015-12-21T13:02:17.303Z
Jodee Bugarszki-Lim
<p>A very short, isolated question:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>No hopes or dreams</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In English, it's very clear that this is "neither hopes nor dreams" i.e. there are no hopes, and also no dreams. In Chinese, which word, 和 or 或 (or some other options) can be used to express this mutual inclusiveness?</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>没有梦和希望</p>
</blockquote>

<p>or</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>没有梦或希望</p>
</blockquote>

<grammar><word-choice><vocabulary>
和 or 或? When to use "and"s and "or"s
# 和 or 或? When to use "and"s and "or"s

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-11-26)

A very short, isolated question:

> No hopes or dreams

In English, it's very clear that this is "neither hopes nor dreams" i.e. there are no hopes, and also no dreams. In Chinese, which word, 和 or 或 (or some other options) can be used to express this mutual inclusiveness?

> 没有梦和希望

or

> 没有梦或希望

**Tags:** grammar, word-choice, vocabulary


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## 6 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-11-27. Score: 2

The preferred rendition for disambiguation would be actually be 没梦想、没希望. Please note the pause mark (as opposed to the comma) and the symmetric syllabic structure, in addition to the repetition of 没.

This is in line with other "balanced" repeated structures in modern standard Mandarin Chinese, such as 又…又… and 连…也…


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### Answer by username_2 on 2015-12-07. Score: 2

Generally as others stated, negating like this causes ambiguity.

However in this specific case, 梦想和希望 sounds like an idiom-like word to me, they work together as one phrase, like "bread and butter". So at least to me, 没有梦想和希望 means neither


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### Answer by username_3 on 2015-11-27. Score: 1

in oral, 没有希望和/或梦想could be the same for understanding. But in some cases which require very strict expression, legal document or scientific papers, for example, 和and或are different


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### Answer by username_4 on 2015-12-20. Score: 0

In most cases we'll use `和` for your example.

`和` is used to describe things that share some features in common, like in your example, `梦想` and `希望` are similar in that there both don't exists in that situation. It corresponds to 'both', 'all', 'neither', etc. So it doesn't matter whether the feature is 'negative' or not.

`或` is used to describe one of the things to have the feature. It's like 'either' in English.

Furthermore, there is another difference between them. Sometimes `和` emphasizes that the whole owns the feature, not part of it, while `或` means either part has the same property, too.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2015-12-04. Score: 0

Personally I would rather use `没有梦，也没有希望`, since `nor` can translate to `也没有`. Or just use `没有梦，没有希望`.

Use negative word with `和` or `或` both means "nothing mentioned are available". In most cases we use `没有……和……`.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2015-12-21. Score: 0

No hopes or dreams should be 没有希望，也没有梦想
It is referring 'no' to both hopes and dreams. Despite the usage of 'or' in English form, it shouldn't be direct translation to Chinese using 或。


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