Chinese word

倘若

Pronunciation

Pinyintǎng ruò

Meaning

  • conjunctionif

Example

倘若明天下雨，我们就不去。tǎng ruò míng tiān xià yǔ wǒ men jiù bú qù

If it rains tomorrow, we won't go.

Illustration for 倘若 (if)

More examples

倘若情况允许，我们下个月就出差。tǎng ruò qíng kuàng yún xǔ wǒ men xià gè yuè jiù chū chāi

If circumstances permit, we will go on a business trip next month.

Core concept

A conditional bridge places a possible situation before the result that may follow from it.

Common phrases

  • 倘若...，就...tǎng ruò jiù

    if ___, then ___

  • 倘若有必要tǎng ruò yǒu bì yào

    if necessary

  • 倘若情况允许tǎng ruò qíng kuàng yún xǔ

    if circumstances permit

Similar words

如果rú guǒ: Presents a condition and a possible result in a standard neutral way.
假如jiǎ rú: Presents a supposed situation and the result that could arise from it.
要是yào shì: Presents a possible condition and its result in everyday spoken language.
若是ruò shì: Presents a condition and the judgment or result that may follow in formal language.

Definition in Chinese

表示假设或前提，相当于“如果”，用于提出条件以说明随后可能发生的结果，语气偏正式或带有文言色彩。biǎo shì jiǎ shè huò qián tí xiāng dāng yú rú guǒ yòng yú tí chū tiáo jiàn yǐ shuō míng suí hòu kě néng fā shēng de jié guǒ yǔ qì piān zhèng shì huò dài yǒu wén yán sè cǎi

Word origin

倘若 (tǎngruò, "if") combines 倘 (tǎng, "supposing") and 若 (ruò, "if"), two classical conditional elements that together introduce a hypothetical condition.

Usage tips

  • In careful speech and writing, the condition often comes first and a later clause begins with 就 (jiù, "then") or 则 (zé, "then"), giving long sentences a clear two-part shape.

Other meanings

  • supposingadverb

Word lists with this word