Usos de 要不

Colloquially, 要不 (yàobù) can be used for making suggestions, like how we use "how about" in English.

Structure

要不 can be used as an indirect way of giving a suggestion, as the speaker is using 要不 to seek consent of the listener. When using 要不 in this way, it can come either at the beginning of the sentence or in the middle, after explaining the situation.

Reason / Situation ，要不 + Suggestion

or

要不 + Suggestion ，Reason / Situation

Examples

大家 都 有点 累 了，要不 休息 一会儿 吧 。
Dàjiā dōu yǒudiǎn lèi le, yàobù xiūxi yīhuìr ba.
Everyone is a little tired. Let's rest for a while.
要不 我们 一起 去 吧 ，一个人 去 没 意思 。
Yàobù wǒmen yīqǐ qù ba, yīgèrén qù méi yìsi.
How about we go together? It's no fun to go by myself.



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要不 (yào bù) can have a number of meanings depending on how it is.
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要不 as to mark possible choices
要不 can be used to offer "either/or" choices to others, similar to 或者.



Nǐ yàobú kànshū yàobú tīnɡyīnyuè.
你 要不 看书 要不 听音乐 。
You can either study or listen to music.





Yàobú nǐ zuò, yàobú wǒ zuò, dànshì yídìnɡ yào zuò wán.
要不 你 做，要不 我 做，但是 一定 要 做 完。
Either you do it or I do it, but it's definitely going to be done.







Another word that can be used in a similar pattern is 要么, with the difference that 要么 can only be used to list the either/or choices available to oneself as well as the choices available to others.




要不 used for suggestions




要不 can be used as an indirect way of giving a suggestion, as the speaker is using 要不 to seek consent of the listener.



Yíɡèrénqùkàndiànyǐnɡméiyìsi, yàobú wǒmen yìqǐ qù bɑ.
一个人去看电影没意思，要不 我们 一起 去 吧。
It's no fun to go to the movie by myself.How about we go together?






Yàobú wǒmen qù ɡuànɡjiē bɑ, bǐ zàijiā shuìjiào yǒu yìsi.
要不 我们 去 逛街 吧，比 在家 睡觉 有 意思。
Let's go shopping.It's more fun than sleeping at home.






要不 means otherwise




要不 can also be used to mean otherwise:



Nǐ kuàidiǎn dǎdiànhuà ɡěi tā, yàobú tāhuì hěn dānxīn.
你 快点 打电话 给 他，要不 他会 很 担心。
I need to call him soon　or he'll start to worry.





Wǒ yào dǎde, yàobú wǒhuìchídào.
我 要 打的, 要不 我会迟到。
I'm going to take a taxi, otherwise I'll be late.



Wǒmen jīn wǎn xūyào shōushi hǎo xínɡli, yàobú mínɡtiān lái bú jí.
我们 今 晚 需要 收拾 好 行李，要不 明天 来 不 及。
We need to prepare the luggage tonight, otherwise there won't be time tomorrow.







要不然 can be used interchangeably with 要不 when it is used as 否则.