Chinese word dictionary

莫非

mòfēi · can it be possible that; could it be

Practice word

Word information

Simplified莫非

Traditional莫非

Pinyinmòfēi

Part of speech副

HSK 3.07-9

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

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

莫mò

cannot; do not; is not; negative

非fēi

not, negative, non-; to oppose

How to learn 莫非

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.

非常fēicháng

very; really; unusual; extraordinary

非洲Fēizhōu

Africa; abbr. for 阿非利加洲[A1 fei1 li4 jia1 Zhou1]

除非chúfēi

only if (..., or otherwise, ...); only when; only in the case that; unless

变幻莫测biànhuàn-mòcè

to change unpredictably; unpredictable; erratic; treacherous

并非bìngfēi

really isn't

非fēi

abbr. for 非洲[Fei1 zhou1], Africa; to not be; not; wrong; incorrect; non-; un-; in-; de-; to reproach; to blame; (coll.) to insist on; simply must