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.

Result / Fact ，除非 + Condition

Examples

• 我 不 去 ，除非 你 也 去 。I won't go unless you go.
• 我 不 说 ，除非 你 答应 我 不会 生气 。I won't tell you unless you promise me that you won't be upset.
• 你 不 会 这么 快 升职 ，除非 你 表现 很 好 。You won't get promoted so soon unless you perform very well.
• 我们 公司 一般 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.

Advanced Construction

In the full construction, 除非 comes first, and the meaning is "Unless x, otherwise y."

Structure

除非 + Condition ，否则 / 不然 + Result / Fact

Examples

• ，除非 。 .
• ，除非 。 .
• ，除非 。 .
• ，除非 。 .
• ，除非 。 .

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 除非 here as meaning "only if."

Structure

除非 x，才 y

So that's "Only if x, y."

Examples

• 除非 理由 很 充分，公司 才 允许 员工 请假。Only if the reason is good enough will the company give its staff time off.
• 除非 你 表现 很 好，老板 才 给 你 加薪。Unless your performance is good, the boss won't give you a raise.
• 除非 希腊 债务 问题 得以 解决，欧洲 的 经济 才 恢复 正常。Only if Greece resolves its debt problem will Europe be able to bring its economy back to normal.
• 除非 能 申请 到 银行 贷款，我们 才 不 会 破产。Only if we can apply for the loan will we be able to avoid going bankrupt.

See also

• "Except" and "in addition" with "chule… yiwai"
• Expressing "even if…" with "jishi"
• Expressing "otherwise" with "yaobu"

Sources and Further Reading

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