Expressing "if… then…" with "yaoshi"

Revision as of 02:59, 19 June 2012 by Parry (talk | contribs) (Text replace - "Indicating Cause and Effect" to "Indicating cause and effect")

"要是..., 就..." (yàoshi..., jiù...) is one of several ways to convey "If... Then..." It is very similar to 如果..., 就... in usage and formality. However, it is important to note that 要是 is considered to be even more informal (and is usually left more to spoken Chinese) than 如果 and used more frequently in the northern areas of China.

Here's the basic structure:

要是 + Statement + 就 + Result

Here are some examples:

  • 要是 你 不去 上班 , 老板 会 解雇 你!
  • 要是 我 不 现在 开始 工作, 我 不 能 按时 完成。
  • 要是 他 不 来,我们 走 吧。

See also

Sources and further reading

Books