Expressing "unless" with "chufei"

除非 (chúfēi) can be used as a conjunction, and means "unless". 否则 (fǒuzé) or 不然 (bùrán) often appear in the following phrase, to form a construction meaning "unless X, otherwise Y":

Simplified Construction

The simplified construction more directly maps to the basic English usage of "unless," as in, "I won't do it unless you pay me."

Structure

除非 means "unless" in the following "Y , 除非 X" pattern. The sentences below place emphasis on the part after 除非.

Y，除非 X

Examples

• 老板 不 给 你 加薪，除非 你 表现 很 好。The boss won't give you a raise unless you perform well.
• 公司 不 允许 员工 请假，除非 理由 很 充分。The company won't allow it's staff time off unless their reason is good enough.
• 欧洲 的 经济 无法 恢复 正常，除非 希腊 债务 问题 得以 解决。Europe will be unable to normalize it's economy, unless Greece resolves it's debt problem.
• 我们 会 破产，除非 能 申请 到 银行 贷款。We're going to go bankrupt unless we are able to apply for a bank loan.

Full construction

In the full construction, 除非 comes first, and the meaning is "Unless X, otherwise Y."

Structure

除非 X ，否则/不然 Y

Examples

• 除非 你 表现 很 好，否则 老板 不 给 你 加薪。
• 除非 理由 很 充分，否则 公司 不 允许 员工 请假。
• 除非 希腊 债务 问题 得以 解决，不然 欧洲 的 经济 无法 恢复 正常。
• 除非 能 申请 到 银行 贷款，否则 我们 就 会 破产。

Used with 才

除非 is also used in the patterns below. The meaning expressed is the same as the sentences above, but below the "Y" part expresses what won't happen unless the 除非 condition is met. It might be more helpful to think of it 除非 as meaning "only if."

Structure

除非 X，才 Y

Examples

• 除非 理由 很 充分，公司 才 允许 员工 请假。
• 除非 你 表现 很 好，老板 才 给 你 加薪。
• 除非 希腊 债务 问题 得以 解决，欧洲 的 经济 才 恢复 正常。
• 除非 能 申请 到 银行 贷款，我们 才 不 会 破产。

See also

• "Except" and "In addition" with "chule… yiwai"
• Expressing "Even if…" with "jishi"

Sources and Further Reading

• Common Chinese Patterns 330 (汉语常用格式330例) [1] →buy