要不然 (yào bù rán) — otherwise, or else

Definition

A colloquial conjunction meaning 'otherwise' or 'or else,' linking a warning to its consequence. It's the everyday spoken form; in writing, 否则 is more formal.

conjunction
otherwiseor else

Examples

  • ，要不然。
    Nǐ dé zǎo diǎn chū fā, yào bù rán gǎn bú shàng huǒ chē.
    You need to leave early, otherwise you'll miss the train.
  • ，要不然。
    Zán men xiàn zài jiù zǒu ba, yào bù rán yí huì r xià yǔ jiù má fan le.
    Let's go now, or else it'll be a problem if it rains later.
  • ，要不然。
    Nǐ yào hǎo hǎo xué xí, yào bù rán kǎo shì huì bù jí gé de.
    You must study hard, otherwise you'll fail the exam.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

要 began as a drawing of a person with both hands pointing to the waist.

Open 要 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
肰
肰rán然rán
Same sound today

然 is made from 肰, which gives the sound, and 火, which shows fire, matching the old sense 'to burn'.

Open 然 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 2.0 Level 65000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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