不然

bùrán

conjunction HSK 4 #1,109

Meanings

快走吧，不然要迟到了。

Kuài zǒu ba, bùrán yào chídào le.

Let's go quickly, otherwise we'll be late.

你要好好学习，不然考试会不及格。

Nǐ yào hǎohao xuéxí, bùrán kǎoshì huì bù jígé.

You need to study hard, or else you'll fail the exam.

带件外套，不然会冷。

Dài jiàn wàitào, bùrán huì lěng.

Bring a jacket, otherwise you'll be cold.

usage

不然 is used after a suggestion or warning to state the consequence. It's similar to 要不然, which is slightly more colloquial.

不 bù

然 rán