Dictionary › 否则

否则

fǒu zé

Old HSK 4 HSK 3.0 level 4 2-character word Traditional 否則

否则 (fǒu zé) means "otherwise; if not; or (else)". It is an HSK 3.0 level 4 word, and was HSK 4 in the old six-level list.

What 否则 means

1. otherwise; if not; or (else)

The characters in 否则

• 否fǒuto negate; to deny; not
• 则zé(literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then…

Example sentences

• 快一点，否则你会迟到。
  Hurry up, or you will be late.
• 立刻走，否则你会迟到。
  Go at once, otherwise you will be late.
• 安静，否则婴儿会醒来。
  Be quiet, or the baby will wake up.
• 快一点，否则就要迟到了。
  Hurry up, or you will be late.
• 快点，否则你会错过公车。
  Hurry up, or you'll miss the bus.
• 快点, 否则你会赶不上火车。
  Hurry up, or you will miss the train.

Where 否则 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Logical connectives & conjunctions (HSK 4), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 4 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read fǒu zé correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.