要不

要不 yàobu

Otherwise (or - either or)

What 要不 means

  1. Otherwise (or - either or)

These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 要不 will read it the same way this page does.

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Character by character

要不 is written with 2 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

要
yāo
Want (need - request - must - demand)
不
bù
No (not)

How to write 要不

Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and what dictionary lookup by stroke count depends on.

Practise 要不 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.

要不 in a sentence

要不我们改天再去?
Yàobù wǒmen gǎi tiān zài qù?
How about we go another day instead?
快走吧,要不就晚了。
Kuài zǒu ba, yàobù jiù wǎn le.
Let us hurry, or we will be late.

Every sentence on this site that uses 要不 is collected on the 要不 sentence page. Want pinyin above a sentence of your own? Paste it into the Pinyin Annotator.

Questions about 要不

What does 要不 mean in English?

要不 is pronounced yàobu and means Otherwise (or - either or).

How do you pronounce 要不?

要不 is yàobu in pinyin — written yaobu without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.

What are the characters in 要不?

要不 is written with 2 characters: 要 (yāo) Want (need - request - must - demand), 不 (bù) No (not). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

Is 要不 an HSK word?

Yes — 要不 is on the official HSK 5 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 5 page.

Studied around the same time

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Translate a whole sentence containing 要不 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 5, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.

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