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

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• 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` ienˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: bud<sup>5</sup> yan<sup>2</sup>
    • Sinological IPA: /put̚² i̯en¹¹/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: put-yàn
    • Hakka Romanization System: bud` (r)ianˇ
    • 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

1. 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

• 冇是 (Southern Pinghua)
• 再不 (zàibù) (colloquial)
• 再不然 (zàibùrán)
• 勿然 (⁵veq-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

1. (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)