Dictionary › 除非

除非

chú fēi

Old HSK 5 HSK 3.0 level 6 2-character word

除非 (chú fēi) means "only if; unless". It is an HSK 3.0 level 6 word, and was HSK 5 in the old six-level list.

What 除非 means

1. only if (..., or otherwise, ...)
2. only when
3. only in the case that
4. unless

The characters in 除非

• 除chúto get rid of; to remove; to exclude
• 非fēito not be; not; wrong; incorrect; non-; un-; in-; de-

Example sentences

• 除非我死了！
  Over my dead body.
• 除非雨停了，我们才会出去。
  We won't go out unless it stops raining.
• 除非我问你，请你不要说话。
  Don't speak till spoken to.
• 除非有人跟他说话，他不说话。
  He did not speak unless spoken to.
• 除非你去做，否则你永远不知道。
  You'll never know unless you try.
• 除非是你做饭，否则我是不会吃的。
  Chúfēi shì nǐ zuòfàn, fǒuzé wǒ shì bùhuì chī de.
  I won't eat it unless you cooked it.

Words containing 除非

• 若要人不知，除非己莫为ruò yào rén bù zhī , chú fēi jǐ mò wéiIf you don't want anyone to know, don't do it (idiom). fig. If you do something bad…

Where 除非 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Necessity, Obligation & Avoidance (HSK 5), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 5 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read chú fēi correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.