Chinese word dictionary

否则

fǒuzé · otherwise; if not; or (else)

Practice word

Word information

Simplified否则

Traditional否則

Pinyinfǒuzé

Part of speech连

HSK 3.04

HSK 2.04

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

否fǒu

no, not, un-; final particle

则zé

rule, law, regulation; grades

How to learn 否则

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

则zé

(literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then; (bound form) standard; norm; (bound form) principle; (literary) to imitate; to follow; classifier for written items

能否néngfǒu

whether or not; can it or can't it; is it possible?

是否shìfǒu

whether (or not); if; is or isn't

否定fǒudìng

to negate; to deny; to reject; negative (answer); negation

否认fǒurèn

to declare to be untrue; to deny

规则guīzé

rule; regulation; regular; orderly; fixed