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HSK 6 · VERSION 2.0#50

Expressing “Unless” with “chúfēi”

除非……否则……

chúfēi...fǒuzé...

How it works

除非……否则…… (chúfēi...fǒuzé...) introduces an exception to a stated result. In English, use “Unless X happens, Y will happen.” Chinese uses both 除非 and 否则, but English normally uses “unless” without “otherwise”.

This is a clear logical structure often used in formal explanation and rules.

Example sentences

除非有新的证据出现,否则我们目前没有理由推翻原来的判断。

Chúfēi yǒu xīn de zhèngjù chūxiàn, fǒuzé wǒmen mùqián méiyǒu lǐyóu tuīfān yuánlái de pànduàn.

Unless new evidence emerges, we currently have no reason to overturn our original judgment.

除非双方都愿意各退一步,否则这场争论恐怕很难在短时间内结束。

Chúfēi shuāngfāng dōu yuànyì gè tuì yí bù, fǒuzé zhè chǎng zhēnglùn kǒngpà hěn nán zài duǎn shíjiān nèi jiéshù.

Unless both sides are willing to compromise, this argument is unlikely to end soon.

除非你愿意先面对最核心的问题,否则后面所有努力都可能只是表面上的修补。

Chúfēi nǐ yuànyì xiān miànduì zuì héxīn de wèntí, fǒuzé hòumiàn suǒyǒu nǔlì dōu kěnéng zhǐshì biǎomiàn shàng de xiūbǔ.

Unless you are willing to address the core problem first, all your subsequent efforts may amount to little more than superficial fixes.

Key point

This structure is strong and logical, and is especially useful for formal conditions and argumentation.

Source: HelloMandarin · Revised edition, 2026 · PDF p. 344.

Old_HSK_1-6_Grammar_Points_2.0.pdf

Old six-level teaching collection. This is an independent learning reference.

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