无论是 (wú lùn shì) — no matter whether... or...; regardless of

Definition

A formal conjunction meaning 'no matter whether… or…', always paired with 还是/或者 + 都/也. Slightly more written than the everyday 不管.

conjunction

no matter whether... or...regardless of

Examples

无论是，。
wú lùn shì Qíng tiān hái shì xià yǔ, tā dōu jiān chí pǎo bù.
No matter whether it's sunny or rainy, he insists on running.
无论是，。
wú lùn shì Dà rén hái shì xiǎo hái, dōu xǐ huan zhè ge yóu xì.
Whether adults or children, everyone likes this game.
无论是，。
wú lùn shì Gōng zuò hái shì xué xí, tā dōu hěn rèn zhēn.
No matter whether it's work or study, he is very serious.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 論; 论 is its simplified writing.

言侖論

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánsay

Sound part声符shēngfú

侖

侖lún論lùn

Same sound today

The traditional form 論 pairs 言 (“say”) with 侖 as a sound component; the simplified 论 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 论 →