How to say “except” in Chinese

“Except” in Chinese is 除, chú: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

除 is read chú. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

How to write it

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “除”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 除. Tap the sound icon to listen.

• 除了羊肉，我都吃。chúleyángròu,wǒdōuchīI eat everything except lamb.
• 除了牛肉以外，我们还点了鱼。chúleniúròuyǐwài,wǒmenháidiǎnleyúBesides beef, we also ordered fish.
• 除夕晚上，我们一家人一起吃年夜饭。chúxīwǎnshang,wǒmenyìjiārényìqǐchīniányèfànOn New Year's Eve our whole family has the New Year's Eve dinner together.
• 这栋旧楼明年要拆除zhèdòngjiùlóumíngniányàochāichúThis old building will be torn down next year.
• 除非你去，我才去。chúfēinǐqù,wǒcáiqùI'll go only if you go.
• 除非下大雨，否则比赛不会取消。chúfēixiàdàyǔ,fǒuzébǐsàibúhuìqǔxiāoThe match won't be canceled unless it rains hard.

More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.

More words from the lesson “The language of notices”

• 凡是 every
• 不得 must not
• 不宜 not advisable
• 因 because of
• 于 in
• 该 this

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions