Chinese word dictionary

除非

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

Practice word

Word information

Simplified除非

Traditional除非

Pinyinchúfēi

Part of speech连

HSK 3.06

HSK 2.05

Character breakdown

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

除chú

to eliminate, to remove, to wipe out

非fēi

not, negative, non-; to oppose

How to learn 除非

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

除了chúle

apart from; besides; in addition to (used to exclude, as in 除了他，誰也沒來|除了他，谁也没来[chu2 le5 ta1 , shei2 ye3 mei2 lai2] "apart from him, nobody came", or to include, as in 除了英語，他也會法語|除了英语，他也会法语[chu2 le5 Ying1 yu3 , ta1 ye3 hui4 Fa3 yu3] "in addition to English, he also knows French"); (used to introduce one of two habitual alternatives in the pattern 除了[chu2 le5] + A + 就是[jiu4 shi4] + B, "either A or B")

除夕chúxī

lunar New Year's Eve

非洲Fēizhōu

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

删除shānchú

to delete; to cancel

拆除chāichú

to tear down; to demolish; to dismantle; to remove