▎否則, fǒuzé, (Conj), otherwise

 

Function 否則 is an S2 conjunction, meaning ‘otherwise’. The whole sentence has the meaning that S1 must be true; otherwise, S2, which is undesirable, would prevail.

1 我今年底必須把論文寫完，否則春節時沒辦法出國旅行。

Wǒ jīnniándǐ bìxū bǎ lùnwén xiěwán, fǒuzé Chūnjié shí méi bànfǎ chūguó lǚxíng.

I’ve got to finish my thesis by the end of the year; otherwise, I won’t be able to go traveling abroad over Chinese New Year.

2 除非你願意改變你的觀念，否則我們無法錄取你。

Chúfēi nǐ yuànyì gǎibiàn nǐ de guānniàn, fǒuzé wǒmen wúfǎ lùqǔ nǐ.

Unless you change your mentality, we will not be able to accept your application.

3 政府必須有效改善台灣婦女生育的環境，否則無法提高生育率。

Zhèngfǔ bìxū yǒuxiào gǎishàn Táiwān fùnǚ shēngyù de huánjìng, fǒuzé wúfǎ tígāo shēngyùlǜ.

The Taiwan government must improve the circumstances surrounding raising children, otherwise birthrates will never rise.

4 你得改變你單身的想法，否則老了以後會覺得孤單寂寞。

Nǐ děi gǎibiàn nǐ dānshēn de xiǎngfǎ, fǒuzé lǎo le yǐhòu huì juéde gūdān jímò.

You have to change your philosophy about staying single, otherwise you will live a lonely old age.

5 面試以前，你一定要對這個職業有足夠的了解，否則不容易被錄取。

Miànshì yǐqián, nǐ yídìng yào duì zhè ge zhíyè yǒu zúgòu de liǎojiě, fǒuzé bù róngyì bèi lùqǔ.

Before an interview make sure you fully understand what the advertised position is about; otherwise it’ll be hard to get the job.

 

Usage In this pattern, S1 can be preceded by 除非, e.g.,

1 除非你這個問題是針對成年者，否則未成年者大概沒有能力了解。

Chúfēi nǐ zhè ge wèntí shì zhēnduì chéngnián zhě, fǒuzé wèi chéngnián zhě dàgài méi yǒu nénglì liǎojiě.

Minors would probably not be able to understand this question of yours, unless it is targeted at adults and will not involve minors.

2 除非他不再抱怨，否則以後我不跟他一起去旅行了。

Chúfēi tā bú zài bàoyuàn, fǒuzé yǐhòu wǒ bù gēn tā yìqǐ qù lǚxíng le.

Unless he stops complaining; otherwise, in the future, I’m not going to travel with him anymore.