不 (bù) or 没 (méi): negation in Chinese
Chinese has two everyday words for 'not'. 不 is for habits, wishes, the future, 是 and adjectives; 没 is for what didn't happen, and for 有.
The essentials
- 不: 我不喝咖啡 (I don't drink coffee), 我明天不去, 他不高.
- 没: 我昨天没去 (I didn't go), and always 没有 for 'don't have': never 不有.
- 不 is said bú before a fourth tone: 不是 (bú shì), 不去 (bú qù).
- Two negatives make a strong positive: 不得不 (have no choice but to), 非…不可 (absolutely must).
Every lesson on this topic
Each lesson has a full explanation, examples in characters and pinyin you can listen to, and exercises with answers.
A1 (the A1 course)
- 不 or 没: two ways to say 'not': 不 for habits, wishes, the future, 是 and adjectives; 没 for what didn't happen and for 有.
B1 (the B1 course)
- Double negatives: 不得不, 非…不可, 不是不: Two negatives make a strong positive: 不得不 (have no choice but to), 非…不可 (absolutely must), 没有人不 (everyone).
B2 (the B2 course)
- Negation in writing and speech: 未, 无, 非, 别, 甭, 不必, 不用, 没必要: The written negatives 未, 无, 非; and the spoken ways to say don't, no need and no point.
In the app, these lessons are taught one idea at a time with audio, practised with questions you can answer in characters or pinyin, and brought back for review.
Other topics
- 了 (le) in Chinese, explained
- 的, 地 and 得: the three de
- Chinese measure words
- The 把 (bǎ) sentence, explained
- 被 (bèi) and the passive in Chinese
- 是…的 (shì…de): when, where and how
- Comparisons with 比 (bǐ)
- 过 (guò) and 着 (zhe): experience and ongoing states
- Chinese complements: result, direction and potential
- Questions in Chinese: 吗, question words and particles
- Chinese conjunctions: because, although, if
- Chengyu: Chinese four-character idioms
- Chinese numbers, dates and time
- Chinese tones and pinyin