2-1 Hi,Liz, let me interpret the two chinese conjunctions要不 and 要么, first . 要不：here the ‘ 要’means ' if ' and hence 要不 means ' if not so, or else' -------- of course, as a matter of fact we know the meaning of 要不 first and then the meaning of the 要. Actually the way we know the meaning of a word or phrase is analysing the whole sentence or even bigger context. 要不is the elliptical form for 要不然( 然，a pro-verb in ancient chinese language, roughly equivalent to 这样，那样 in modern Chinese).,and 要不然 is sometimes used as 要不 in spoken chinese. In a colloquialness -ascending order, it goes as 要不，要不然，否则. 要不( 要不然，否则 likewise) does not come at the beginning of a compound sentence. There must be something esle preceding it, and what goes before it is usually a statement, a piece of advice or a choice; for instance, 你可以坐火车去，要不坐飞机也可以，这样比较快。When a speaker uses 要不，they have an unspoken, or implying or even latent idea that the listener may not like the former advice, or could not act that way. Generally speaking, we do not use 要不 at the beginnings of a series of sentences that come one by one, not 要么 used like this either. In another word , 要不 appears only once in a chinese compound sentence . TO BE CONTINUED

Its better: 1.依我看，你是不想让我走，要么就是想利用我提高你的英文水平。请告诉我, 是哪一个？ 2.告诉我，你到底是真的不想让我走，还是只想利用我提高你的英文水平? “要么”: it means ：“or”/“either…or” samples: 例句：你可以当面和他谈谈，要么给他打电话。 例句：喝茶，要么喝咖啡，你选一样。 例句：你要么抓紧时间学习，要么就呆着什么也别干。 例句：你要么努力争取，要么选择放弃。 “要不”: it means:“otherwise"/“in other ways” samples： 例句：要不(然)这样吧，你自己一边读，我一边帮你纠正。 例句：你最好抓紧点时间，要不(然) /否则我们会迟到的。 例句：屋里太闷了，要不咱们出去散步吧。 例句：幸好有你在身边，要不我真不知道该怎么办。

2-2 CONTINUED The 要in要么means 'should, must, have to or may', and the 么 is an auxiliary word, which comes here only to add a syllable and make a bisyllable word. In contrast with 要不，要么 mostly appears in pairs. They come at the beginning of each clause of a compound sentence. * (1) [or]∶在两种不同情况或事物之间的选择 赶快给他发个电报,要么挂个长途电话 * 高级汉语词典 （An Advanced Chinese Dictionary) Or：to make a choice between two ways or things In this usage, the exptession must be very colloguial and informal. Here the 要么 is equivalent to 或者，and actually 或者is much more used than 要么。 *(2) [either…or]∶在互相排斥的两事中进行选择 要么战胜困难,要么被困难压倒 * 高级汉语词典 （An Advanced Chinese Dictionary) Either...or: to make a choice between two opposite, contrary or exclusive ways or things . How should we put it when we give three or more options? In writing it goes just the same way as in english : we usually only use 或者 before the last choice, whereas in daily speech we can use 或者 before each clauce. As for the sentence 你要不就是不想让我走，要不就是想利用我提高你的英文, gramatically speaking, the 要不 were misused( they should be 要么here), but this usage is becoming more and more common today in both conversation and writing, whcih is implying a surmise or conjecture, and maybe this usage would grow gramatical and be accepted some day.

你觉得吧，应该是 ： 你要不让我走，（如果不让我走） 要么你就是想利用我提高你的英文水平。 后面一句话 有带疑问的语气。应该用“要么”。 希望能给你帮助。

In this sentense, they get same mearning. both are ok. If any difference, 要不 is usually used in oral chinese. 要么 can be used in oral or written chinese.