Writing
莫非 (mò fēi) — how to say "could it be that" in Chinese
莫非
Could it be that
modal adverb
How to use it
Goes before the verb and shows the speaker's attitude.
莫非他生病了？
mò fēi tā shēng bìng le
Could he have gotten sick?
Character composition
莫
not, don't
非
not, wrong
Radicals / Keys
艸
Grass
#140 · cǎo · 6 strokes
非
Wrong
#175 · fēi · 8 strokes
Collocations
莫非不知道
mò fēi bù zhīdào
could it be that one does not know
Examples
莫非你真的不知道这件事吗？
Could it be that you really don't know about this?
莫非他来了？
Could it be that he came?
Try remembering 莫非
Three short exercises on meaning and pronunciation. Free, no sign-up needed.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say "could it be that" in Chinese?
"could it be that" in Chinese is 莫非 (mò fēi).
What does 莫非 mean in English?
莫非 (mò fēi) means "Could it be that".
How is 莫非 pronounced?
It is pronounced mò fēi (written as mo fei, mofei). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.
How do you write "could it be that" in Chinese characters?
It is written 莫非: 莫 has 10 strokes, 非 has 8 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.
What HSK 3.0 level is 莫非?
莫非 is on the HSK 3.0 levels 7–9 word list. It is not part of the six-level HSK 2.0 lists.
Tomyo
Learn Chinese words with spaced repetition
Add 莫非 to your vocabulary and remember it with smart reviews, audio and examples.