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不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-

HSK 1word

By Chinese Copilot · Last updated

不 (bù) means "not" or "no." It is the standard way to negate verbs and adjectives for present or future situations and for habits. Place 不 directly before the verb or adjective. It is not used to negate 有; that verb takes 没 instead.

What does 不 mean?

  1. 1.

    no; not so; (bound form) not; un-adverb

What does the character 不 mean?

  • 不no; not so; (bound form) not; un-

How do you use 不?

Grammar patterns

  1. 1

    Subj. + 不 + Verb (+ Obj.)

    Put 不 before a verb to negate present or future actions and habits.

  2. 2

    Subj. + 不 + Adj.

    Put 不 before an adjective for simple negation such as "not hungry" or "not expensive."

不 usually comes right before the word it negates; tone sandhi can make it sound like bú before a fourth-tone syllable, but learners still write bù in citation form.

Patterns

  • Verb + 不 + Verb

    你去不去？

    Nǐ qù bu qù?

    Are you going or not?

  • 不 + 是 + Noun

    我不是老师。

    Wǒ bú shì lǎoshī.

    I am not a teacher.

What are some examples of 不 in a sentence?

  1. HSK 1

    我们不喝酒。

    Wǒmen bù hē jiǔ.

    We don't drink alcohol.

  2. HSK 1

    我今天不想工作。

    Wǒ jīntiān bù xiǎng gōngzuò.

    I don't want to work today.

  3. HSK 1

    这个不贵。

    Zhège bú guì.

    This is not expensive.

  4. HSK 2

    他们不是坏孩子。

    Tāmen bú shì huài háizi.

    They are not bad kids.

How is 不 different from 没?

不 negates present or future actions, habits, and adjectives. 没 (méi) negates past actions or 有 ("to have"). You cannot say 不有.

Only 不 fits here

我今天晚上不喝酒。

Wǒ jīntiān wǎnshang bù hējiǔ.

I'm not going to drink tonight.

How is 不 used in a conversation?

  1. Speaker A:

    你喝不喝酒？

    Nǐ hē bu hē jiǔ?

    Do you drink alcohol?

  2. Speaker B:

    不喝，我不喝酒。

    Bù hē, wǒ bù hē jiǔ.

    No, I don't drink.

  3. Speaker A:

    今天冷不冷？

    Jīntiān lěng bu lěng?

    Is it cold today?

  4. Speaker B:

    不冷。

    Bù lěng.

    It's not cold.

  5. Speaker A:

    你去不去看电影？

    Nǐ qù bu qù kàn diànyǐng?

    Are you going to see a movie?

  6. Speaker B:

    不去，我今天很忙。

    Bú qù, wǒ jīntiān hěn máng.

    No, I'm very busy today.

Can you use 不 correctly?

0 of 3 answered
  1. 1.Fill in the blank: 我___吃肉。
  2. 2.Fill in the blank: 这个___贵。
  3. 3.Which sentence is correct?

What should you learn next?

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English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.