～なり～なりOr, Either or

When the classical adverbial particle なり is used in lists, it expresses that each item within that list is a possibility, but that one particular thing will be or needs to be chosen. This use of なり will indicate that either (A) or (B) is fine, but anything else that falls within that same category is probably fine too. Due to this, it is non-exhaustive.

なり is a fairly polite construction and will appear after either verbs in their dictionary forms, or nouns that may or may not be followed by another particle. This is in cases where that particle is giving important information involved in the 'choice'. An example of this would be に for marking a location.

As with all adverbial particles, なり cannot follow either が or を.

Caution

This emphasis on (A) なり (B) なり presenting lists from which something will be chosen is what differentiates it from similar structures such as など and や. Due to this, なり will not be used to mean 'such as', but only for 'either, or' statements.