HSK 5 · Function Words

或许 huòxǔ “perhaps” in Chinese

Traditional 或許

What 或许 means

  1. perhaps
  2. maybe

How to say 或许

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale或huò4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale许xǔ3rd tone, dipping

或许 in a sentence

  1. 她或许知道我们在这儿。

    Tā huòxǔ zhīdao wǒmen zài zhèr.

    She may know we’re here.

    Sentence #1428134 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我或许可以修好它。

    Wǒ huòxǔ kěyǐ xiūhǎo tā.

    I might be able to fix it.

    Sentence #9690027 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 这本导游册子或许会对你的旅行有帮助。

    Zhè běn dǎoyóu cèzi huòxǔ huì duì nǐ de lǚxíng yǒu bāngzhù.

    This guidebook might be of use to you on your trip.

    Sentence #1502350 from Tatoeba

How 或许 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 或 (huò) with each of its parts in a different colour
或huòmaybe
  • 戈halberd · gē
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 一one · yī
The character 许 (xǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
许xǔto allow
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 午part of the characterSound part

How to write 或许

或 8 strokes · 许 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 或许

Words with 或

或huò · or或者huòzhě · or

Words with 许

允许yǔnxǔ · to permit许多xǔduō · many也许yěxǔ · perhaps许可xǔkě · to permit

More words: Function Words & Grammar

果然guǒrán · really哈hā · ha! (laughter)何必hébì · there is no need何况hékuàng · let alone忽然hūrán · suddenly基本jīběn · basic急忙jímáng · hastily甲jiǎ · first (in a sequence)

FAQs

或许 (huòxǔ) means “perhaps” or “maybe”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it huòxǔ: huò with a 4th tone, then xǔ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 或许 is written 或許. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type huoxu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 或许 from the suggestions. Typing huoxu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
或许 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.