A corridor of locked doors with one cut out

Where the picture shows up in 除非

1. 1

   A table only if you said so first

   除非你提前说，否则我不会留座位。

   chúfēi nǐ tíqián shuō, fǒuzé wǒ bú huì liú zuòwèi

   Unless you tell us in advance, we won't hold a table.

   no name found in the booking book, and the chairs left stacked on the last free table

2. 2

   As usual, except in this one case

   明天照常上班，除非公司通知放假。

   míngtiān zhàocháng shàngbān, chúfēi gōngsī tōngzhī fàngjià

   Work tomorrow is as usual unless the company announces a day off.

   the noticeboard checked, nothing new pinned there, and a work bag packed anyway

3. 3

   Only with proof (才)

   除非有医生证明，才能请病假。

   chúfēi yǒu yīshēng zhèngmíng, cái néng qǐng bìngjià

   You can only take sick leave with a doctor's note.

   a stamp coming down only once the note is slotted into the blank beside the leave form

4. 4

   Nothing else opens it (不然)

   这个门除非刷卡，不然打不开。

   zhège mén chúfēi shuākǎ, bùrán dǎ bù kāi

   This door won't open unless you tap your card.

   the handle rattled to no effect, then a card tapped and the light turning green

5. 5

   The one exception to my plan

   我一定去，除非临时有急事。

   wǒ yídìng qù, chúfēi línshí yǒu jíshì

   I'll definitely go, unless something urgent comes up.

   a big circle drawn on the calendar with only 'emergency' written small beside it