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要不

yàobù

  1. correlative conjunction otherwise; or else

    快点走,要不就迟到了。

    Kuài diǎn zǒu, yàobù jiù chídào le.

    Hurry up, or we'll be late.

  2. correlative conjunction either ... or ... (offering alternatives)

    要不你来,要不我去。

    Yàobù nǐ lái, yàobù wǒ qù.

    Either you come over, or I go to you.

  3. correlative conjunction sentence-initial: introducing a suggestion (colloquial)

    要不,咱们先吃饭?

    Yàobù, zánmen xiān chī fàn?

    How about we eat first?

The full ChinesePath dictionary entry for 要不 includes audio for every reading and example sentence, more example sentences, collocations, synonyms and links to the course units where it is taught.

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