Chinese word dictionary

要是

yàoshi · (coll.) if

Practice word

Word information

Simplified要是

Traditional要是

Pinyinyàoshi

Part of speech连

HSK 3.04

HSK 2.05

Character breakdown

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

要yào

essential, necessary; to ask for; to coerce; to demand

是shì

to be; yes

How to learn 要是

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.

不要búyào

don't!; must not

是shì

to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4]

要yào

to want; to need; to ask for; will; shall; about to; need to; should; if (same as 要是[yao4 shi5]); (bound form) important

但是dànshì

but; however

还是háishi

still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or

快要kuàiyào

nearly at the point of (doing sth); about to (do sth)