Chinese–EnglishWith examples

要是

yào shi · yao shi

Same in simplified and traditional Chinese

HSK 3Old HSK 5

Meaning

CC-CEDICT
  1. (coll.) if
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In a conversation

0:16 cartoon

A hundred yuan, a debt

  1. Liangliang

    要是(yàoshi)你(nǐ)有(yǒu)一百万(yībǎiwàn)，你(nǐ)想(xiǎng)做(zuò)什么(shénme)？

    If you had a million, what would you do?

  2. Dengdeng

    要是(yàoshi)有(yǒu)一百万(yībǎiwàn)，我(wǒ)要(yào)买(mǎi)一个(yīgè)大(dà)房子(fángzi)。

    If I had a million, I would buy a big house.

  3. Liangliang

    还有(háiyǒu)呢(ne)？

    Anything else?

  4. Dengdeng

    要是(yàoshi)还(hái)有(yǒu)钱(qián)，我(wǒ)先(xiān)还(huán)你(nǐ)十块(shíkuài)。

    If I still had money, I would first pay you back ten yuan.

  5. Liangliang

    你(nǐ)现在(xiànzài)就(jiù)还(huán)我(wǒ)十块(shíkuài)吧(ba)！

    Pay me back ten yuan right now!

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In a sentence

2 examples
01

要(yào)是(shi)明(míng)天(tiān)下(xià)雨(yǔ)，我(wǒ)们(men)就(jiù)待(dāi)在(zài)家(jiā)里(lǐ)。

If it rains tomorrow, we'll just stay at home.

02

要(yào)是(shi)你(nǐ)早(zǎo)点(diǎn)告(gào)诉(sù)我(wǒ)，我(wǒ)就(jiù)不(bú)会(huì)迟(chí)到(dào)了(le)。

If you had told me earlier, I wouldn't have been late.

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How to write

Stroke order & practice

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

The characters

Explore individually
要
yào

to want; to need; to ask for; will; shall; about to

是
shì

to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true

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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