不然

Chinese

		not; no	so; thus; like this so; thus; like this; ‑ly; correct; right
trad. (不然)		不	然
simp. ^#(不然)		不	然

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bùrán

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄖㄢˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ jin⁴
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): put-yèn / put-yàn

(Meixian, Guangdong): bud⁵ yan²
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): put-liân / put-jiân

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bùrán
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄖㄢˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bùrán
  - Wade–Giles: pu⁴-jan²
  - Yale: bù-rán
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buran
  - Palladius: бужань (bužanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ ʐän³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: bat¹ jin⁴
  - Yale: bāt yìhn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ jin⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ yin⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ jiːn²¹/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: put-yèn
  - Hakka Romanization System: bud^ˋ ien^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: bud⁵ yan²
  - Sinological IPA: /put̚² i̯en¹¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: put-yàn
  - Hakka Romanization System: bud^ˋ (r)ian^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: bud⁵ yan²
  - Sinological IPA: /put̚² (j)i̯an¹¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: bud⁵ yan²
  - Sinological IPA: /put̚¹ ian¹¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Taipei, Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: put-liân
  - Tâi-lô: put-liân
  - Phofsit Daibuun: putlieen
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /put̚⁵⁻²⁴ liɛn²⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei, Xiamen): /put̚³²⁻⁴ liɛn²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: put-jiân
  - Tâi-lô: put-jiân
  - Phofsit Daibuun: putjieen
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /put̚³²⁻⁵ d͡ziɛn¹³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /put̚³²⁻⁴ ziɛn²³/

Conjunction

不然

otherwise; or
得虧我來得早，不然又趕不上了。 [MSC, trad.]
得亏我来得早，不然又赶不上了。 [MSC, simp.]
Děikuī wǒ lái de zǎo, bùrán yòu gǎn bu shàng le. [Pinyin]
Fortunately I came early or I wouldn't have been able to catch up.

Synonyms

edit

冇是 (Southern Pinghua)
再不 (zàibù) (colloquial)
再不然 (zàibùrán)
勿然 (⁸veq-zoe) (Wu)
否則／否则 (fǒuzé)
唔係／唔系 (m⁴ hai⁶) (Cantonese)
唔係嘅話／唔系嘅话 (Cantonese)
如咪 (Hong Kong Cantonese)
抑無／抑无 (Hokkien)
欲無／欲无 (Hokkien)
若唔係／若唔系 (Teochew)
若無／若无 (Hokkien)
要不 (yàobù)
要不然 (yàobùrán)

Adjective

不然

(formal) not the case; not so

Derived terms

便不然
再不然 (zàibùrán)
大謬不然／大谬不然 (dàmiùbùrán)
要不然 (yàobùrán)