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否则

fǒuzé

Show the other picture: what happens if you don't

The picture The road where the instruction is kept, and pasted alongside it the scene that unfolds when it isn't. 除非 cuts out the condition that opens; 否则 shows what happens when it isn't kept.

Connectors

Where the picture shows up in 否则

  1. Late means queuing again

    请准时到,否则要重新排队。

    qǐng zhǔnshí dào, fǒuzé yào chóngxīn páiduì

    Please arrive on time, or you'll have to queue again.

    someone arriving late with a ticket while the clerk points to the far end of a long line

  2. Miss it and money goes

    今天必须交,否则会罚钱。

    jīntiān bìxū jiāo, fǒuzé huì fá qián

    It has to be handed in today, or there's a fine.

    a finger resting on today's square of the calendar, then pointing at the amount printed on the next

  3. 不然, the spoken form

    先存一下,不然改的东西都没了。

    xiān cún yíxià, bùrán gǎi de dōngxi dōu méi le

    Save it first, or everything you changed is gone.

    a finger hovering over the save icon while the eyes run over the work on screen

  4. 要不然, tacked on lightly

    多穿一件,要不然会感冒。

    duō chuān yí jiàn, yàobùrán huì gǎnmào

    Put another layer on, or you'll catch a cold.

    an extra coat handed over at the door and a nod toward the cold wind outside

  5. Not in person, not accepted

    你得自己去签,否则他们不认。

    nǐ děi zìjǐ qù qiān, fǒuzé tāmen bú rèn

    You have to sign it yourself, or they won't accept it.

    a form signed by someone else pushed back out across the counter

All of it in one picture

否则 is the 'or else' picture. Arrive late and the queue starts over; miss today's deadline and money goes out. In speech it clips on lightly as 不然 or 要不然, and the ending where nobody accepts an unsigned form hangs in the very same spot.

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