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要是

Mandarin · pinyin yào shi

(coll.) if

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Characters in this entry

要: yào · necessary, essential; necessity
是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that

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Mandarin tones

4–5 · yao4 shi5

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jiu3 si6

Cantonese word readings for 要是. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

conj

(colloquial) if; in case

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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