要不

yào bù

HSK 2.0 Level 5 HSK 3.0 Level 5 Conjunction Uncommon

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Definitions

1. otherwise
2. or else
3. how about...?
4. either... (or...)

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Word relationships

Related words

1 item

• 或者 huò zhě 或者 huò zhě or used to offer alternatives, as in 'either... or...' or suggesting options: or

Usage notes

Collocations

要不……要不…… pairs alternatives, similar to 'either… or…' (e.g., 要不你去，要不我去).

Example Sentences

2 shown

要不 我们去看电影吧。

How about we go watch a movie?

要不 要睡覺？

Source: Tatoeba.org (ID 13112161)

Sentence data courtesy of Tatoeba.org. AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Words Containing 要不

• 要不是 要不是 yào bu shì: if it were not for
• 要不然 要不然 yào bù rán: otherwise
• 要不得 要不得 yào bu de: intolerable; unacceptable

Child Words of 要不

• 不 不 bù: no; not so
• 要 要 yāo: (bound form) to demand; to coerce
• 要 要 yào: to want; to need; to ask for