Chinese–EnglishWith examples

否则

fǒu zé · fou ze

Traditional 否則

HSK 4

Meaning

CC-CEDICT
  1. otherwise; if not; or (else)
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In a conversation

0:17 cartoon

The soup boils over

  1. Liangliang

    火(huǒ)要(yào)小(xiǎo)一(yī)点(diǎn)，否则(fǒuzé)汤(tāng)会(huì)溢出来(yìchūlái)。

    Keep the heat low, otherwise the soup will boil over.

  2. Dengdeng

    好(hǎo)。盐(yán)放(fàng)多少(duōshao)？

    OK. How much salt?

  3. Liangliang

    少(shǎo)放(fàng)一点(yīdiǎn)，否则(fǒuzé)太(tài)咸(xián)。

    A little, otherwise it is too salty.

  4. Dengdeng

    哎(āi)，汤(tāng)开(kāi)了(le)！

    Hey, the soup is boiling!

  5. Liangliang

    快(kuài)关火(guānhuǒ)！

    Turn off the heat quickly!

  6. Dengdeng

    太(tài)晚(wǎn)了(le)，汤(tāng)已经(yǐjīng)溢出来(yìchūlái)了(le)。

    Too late, the soup has already boiled over.

Tap a word for its meaning in this line. The characters’ voices are computer-generated.

In a sentence

2 examples
01

除(chú)非(fēi)是(shì)你(nǐ)做(zuò)饭(fàn)，否(fǒu)则(zé)我(wǒ)是(shì)不(bú)会(huì)吃(chī)的(de)。

I won't eat it unless you cooked it.

Tatoeba: Chinese by sysko · English by francaisr0wlet · CC BY 2.0 FR. Pinyin added or corrected.

02

除(chú)非(fēi)你(nǐ)去(qù)做(zuò)，否(fǒu)则(zé)你(nǐ)永(yǒng)远(yuǎn)不(bù)知(zhī)道(dào)。

You'll never know unless you try.

Tatoeba: Chinese by mimosawang · English by CK · CC BY 2.0 FR. Simplified Chinese conversion; Pinyin added or corrected.

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How to write

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Mainland China stroke order, including traditional characters. Drawing sources & licenses.

The characters

Explore individually
否
fǒu

to negate; to deny

则
zé

(literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then; (bound form) standard; norm

Individual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of a whole word.

Definitions adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG and its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Pinyin display and entry grouping have been adapted.

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