HSK 3 · Function Words

除了 chúle “besides” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 除了 means

  1. besides
  2. except for
  3. aside from
  4. apart from
  5. in addition to (used to exclude, as in 除了他，谁也没来 “apart from him, nobody came”, or to include, as in 除了英语，他也会法语 “in addition to English, he also knows French”)
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • (used to introduce one of two habitual alternatives in the pattern 除了 + A + 就是 + B, “either A or B”)

How to say 除了

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale除chú2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own了leneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

除了 in a sentence

  1. 除了我以外，大家都很忙。

    Chúle wǒ yǐwài, dàjiā dōu hěn máng.

    Everyone is busy except me.

    Sentence #684827 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 除了英语，他还会说法语。

    Chúle Yīngyǔ, tā hái huì shuō Fǎyǔ.

    Besides English, he can also speak French.

    Sentence #336626 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 除了洋葱我什么都可以吃。

    Chúle yángcōng wǒ shénme dōu kěyǐ chī.

    I can eat anything except onions.

    Sentence #472888 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 除了 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 除 (chú) with each of its parts in a different colour
除chúto get rid of
  • 阝place
  • 余surplus · yú
The character 了 (liǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
了lecompleted action marker
  • 乛part of the character
  • 亅hook · jué

How to write 除了

除 9 strokes · 了 2 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

除了 (chúle) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 除了 (chúle). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 除了

Words with 除

除夕Chúxī · lunar New Year’s Eve删除shānchú · to delete除非chúfēi · only if (…除chú · except解除jiěchú · to remove排除páichú · to rule out清除qīngchú · to clear away消除xiāochú · to eliminate开除kāichú · to expel废除fèichú · to abolish

Words with 了

了le · aspect particle了解liǎojiě · comprehend为了wèile · in order to受不了shòubùliǎo · unbearable不得了bùdéliǎo · extremely了不起liǎobuqǐ · amazing大不了dàbuliǎo · at worst一目了然yímùliǎorán · clear at a glance

More words: Particles & Connectors

比较bǐjiào · compare比赛bǐsài · sports match不但búdàn · not only而且érqiě · moreover地dì · earth多么duōme · how跟gēn · to follow关于guānyú · about

FAQs

除了 (chúle) means “besides” or “except for”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it chúle: chú with a 2nd tone, then le with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 除了 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type chule with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 除了 from the suggestions. Typing chule into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
除了 is an HSK 3 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.