How do you say "That, or" in a nice way

Question

In English you say, e.g.

This restaurant seems to be very popular. That, or everybody just wants to use the toilets, which seem to be free.

The thing is, I already complete the sentence, and then as an add-on we add an alternative suggestion to that sentence. What is a nice way to express that sentiment.

I thought about それとか、, but I don't know if that really expresses what I mean.

Answer 1

You can use either あるいは (literary/formal) or それか (colloquial/casual). Common patterns include:

• Aだ。あるいはBだ。
• Aだ。あるいはBかだ。
• Aだ。あるいはBだろう。
• Aだ。あるいはBかのどちらかだ。

For example:

• 彼は天才に違いない。それか、単なる馬鹿だ。
• 返答がないのは忙しいからだろう。あるいは暇だから寝ているんだろう。

There is also さもなくば (literally "if that's not the case"), which is even more stiffer than あるいは.

The particle とか forms a list, and thus それとか means "in addition to that". This is not what you want now.

Answer 2

こちら、そちら、あちら may all be used to refer to objects, places, people, etc. It is all about distance and perspective. They are much more polite than これ、それ、あれ. You can also attach polite suffixes such as こちら様、こちらさん for when trying to convey respect, even inanimate objects and animals.

Direct translations are not viable. It's best to just try to say it in your own words in the language, if that makes sense, not translated from English.

I'm not really sure what you mean by free, unoccupied or does not cost money? Most toilets are public use or for use by the customer at no charge.

Something like this might convey what you are trying to say:

あちらのレストランは大人気みたいですが皆さんはばかりトイレを用いりたいかも知れません。無料みたいですから。