Sentence #334398 from Tatoeba · translation adapted
How 不然 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.
不bùno; not so
不 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
Memory aidPicture a bar 一 across the top that nothing below can get past: not, no.
然ráncorrect
肰dog meat · ránSound part
灬fire form of 火 · huǒMeaning part
灬 hints at the meaning (fire); 肰 (rán) hints at the sound. Compare it with rán.
Memory aidFire 灬 under meat 肰. Its first meaning was “to burn”, now written 燃 (rán).
How to write 不然
不 4 strokes · 然 12 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 不然 (bùrán). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
不然 (bùrán) means “otherwise” or “or else”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it bùrán: bù with a 4th tone, then rán with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 不然 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type buran with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 不然 from the suggestions. Typing buran into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
不然 is an HSK 5 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.
不bù4th tone, falling
然rán2nd tone, rising
