Kilo Lingo
Mandarin grammar Part of Chapter 2

CEFR A1-A2

5 min read

Test yourself (32 questions)

By Michael McGettrick and Wee Khang LinUpdated 11 October 2026

Mandarin Negation: 不 (bù) vs 没 (méi)

English gets by with one "not". Mandarin has two, and they split the work cleanly: (bù) negates what is true now, what will be, what is habitual, and adjectives; (méi) negates what did not happen. And (yǒu, to have) only ever takes .

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Pick the right negator: 不 for now, the future, habits and adjectives; 没 for what did not happen, and for 有.

  1. 我去。 (I am not going - a decision about the future)

    wǒ ___ qù 。 (I am not going - a decision about the future)

  2. 他还来。 (he has not come yet)

    tā hái ___ lái 。 (he has not come yet)

  3. 我有咖啡。 (I have no coffee)

    wǒ ___ yǒu kā fēi 。 (I have no coffee)

The two negators at a glance

The colours stay the same all page long: (bù) in one colour, (méi) in the other.

不 bù (not)没 méi (did not)What do the colours mean?
NegatorPinyinNegates
bùnow, the future, habits, adjectives,
méiwhat did not happen, and

One verb, (qù, to go), shows the whole system in miniature:

HanziPinyinEnglish
。Wǒ bú qù.I am not going / I will not go
。Wǒ méi qù.I did not go

(wǒ bú qù) is about now or the future: I am not going, I refuse to go. (wǒ méi qù) is about the past: the going did not happen.

不 (bù): the present, the future, habits, and adjectives

(bù) goes directly in front of the verb or adjective, and nothing else in the sentence moves. If the English negative is "don't", "won't", "isn't" or "not + adjective", you want .

HanziPinyinEnglish
。Wǒ míngtiān bú qù.I'm not going tomorrow
。Wǒ bù zhīdào.I don't know
。Wǒ bù xǐhuan zhège.I don't like this one
。Tā bú shì wǒ xiānsheng.He isn't my husband
。Zhège bù hǎo.This one isn't good

Three of those rows are rules in their own right:

  • (shì) always takes , never : 。 (Tā bú shì lǎoshī.), he is not a teacher. See the copula 是.
  • Adjectives take directly. There is no "is" to negate, because the adjective already means "to be good": 。 (Zhège bù hǎo.), this one isn't good.
  • Wanting and habits are states, so they take even in the past: 。 (Tā zuótiān bù xiǎng qù.), he didn't want to go yesterday.

没 (méi): what did not happen

(méi) negates actions that did not take place. If the English negative is "didn't" or "hasn't", you want .

HanziPinyinEnglish
。Tā méi lái.He didn't come
。Tā méi shuō shénme.She didn't say anything
。Tā méi gàosu wǒ.He didn't tell me
。Tā hái méi lái.He hasn't come yet

Notice what is missing from every row: any past marking on the verb. does the "did not" work by itself, and the verb stays in its dictionary form. That is why a plain "didn't" takes no (le): 。 (Wǒ méi qù.), never (wǒ méi qù le).

The full form (méiyǒu) also negates a verb, and means exactly the same: 。 (Wǒ méiyǒu qù.) - I didn't go. Short is the everyday choice in speech.

With (hái, still), says something has not happened yet, and this works with an adjective too, because becoming better is a change that did not happen: 。 (Tā hái méi hǎo.) - He isn't better yet.

有 (yǒu) only ever takes 没

(yǒu, to have / there is) never takes . Its negative is always (méi yǒu), in every tense and every context.

HanziPinyinEnglish
。Wǒ méi yǒu kāfēi.I have no coffee
。Zhèlǐ méi yǒu rén.There's nobody here
。Wǒ míngtiān méi yǒu shíjiān.I'm not free tomorrow
On a table, a smiling blue bowl heaped with steaming porridge and berries, a spoon standing in it, beside a sleepy green bowl that has been eaten clean, the spoon resting inside and a few crumbs left.

The full bowl: 有 yǒu, there is some. The empty one: 没有 méi yǒu, there is none left. Never 不有.

(bù yǒu) does not exist: not rare, not formal, not regional. When shows up, the choice is already made for you. In speech, often shortens to bare before a noun: 。 (Wǒ méi shì.) - I'm fine, nothing's wrong. The full story of is in possession with 有.

The tone change: bù becomes bú before a fourth tone

is a fourth-tone syllable, bù. But when the syllable after it is also fourth tone, is said with a rise, as a second tone: bú. The character never changes.

Before a fourth tone, bù is said bú: 不是 bú shì, is not.
WrittenSaidWhy
bú shì shì is fourth tone
bú qù qù is fourth tone
bú yào yào is fourth tone
bù hǎo hǎo is third tone
bù lái lái is second tone
bù shuō shuō is first tone

This is special to and (yī): other fourth tones keep their tone before a fourth tone, so is zàijiàn. (méi) has no tone change at all. The rule is in tone pairs.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
。。 (yǒu) only takes (méi)
。。The future takes (bù)
。。 (méi) already says it didn't happen
。。A plain adjective takes (bù)
。。 (shì) only takes (bù)

Most of these come from treating (bù) as "the" word for not. Ask one question first: did something fail to happen? If yes, (méi); if not, (bù).

(bù) and (méi) are on the AQA GCSE Chinese specification at Foundation and Higher tier.

The cheatsheet

SituationNegatorExample
Now or future。 (wǒ bú qù)
Habit, liking。 (wǒ bù xǐhuan zhège)
Adjective。 (zhège bù hǎo)
With 。 (tā bú shì lǎoshī)
Didn't happen。 (tā méi lái)
With 。 (wǒ méi yǒu kāfēi)

Going further

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/8

Pick the right negator: 不 for now, the future, habits and adjectives; 没 for what did not happen, and for 有.

  1. 我去。 (I am not going - a decision about the future)

    wǒ ___ qù 。 (I am not going - a decision about the future)

  2. 他还来。 (he has not come yet)

    tā hái ___ lái 。 (he has not come yet)

  3. 我有咖啡。 (I have no coffee)

    wǒ ___ yǒu kā fēi 。 (I have no coffee)

  4. 他是我先生。 (he is not my husband)

    tā ___ shì wǒ xiān sheng 。 (he is not my husband)

  5. 她说什么。 (she did not say anything)

    tā ___ shuō shén me 。 (she did not say anything)

  6. 我喜欢这个。 (I do not like this one - a standing preference)

    wǒ ___ xǐ huan zhè ge 。 (I do not like this one - a standing preference)

  7. 他们听我说。 (they did not listen to me - past)

    tā men ___ tīng wǒ shuō 。 (they did not listen to me - past)

  8. 我会做。 (I cannot do it)

    wǒ ___ huì zuò 。 (I cannot do it)

Complete the story

0/6

Choose 不 or 没 for each gap.

A colleague who never turns up

他昨天来。他明天也来。他是我的老师，但是我们都很喜欢他。他有咖啡，我也有。他在中国吗？我知道。

Gap 1 of 6

Spot the mistake

0/4

Each sentence has one mistake. Tap it.

  1. zhè lǐ bù yǒu rén 。

  2. wǒ míng tiān méi qù 。

  3. wǒ méi qù le 。

  4. tā méi shì lǎo shī 。

Pick the right one

0/8

Is 不 said bù or bú here? It shifts to bú only before a fourth-tone syllable.

  1. 不是 (shì is fourth tone)

  2. 不好 (hǎo is third tone)

  3. 不去 (qù is fourth tone)

  4. 不说 (shuō is first tone)

  5. 不要 (yào is fourth tone)

  6. 不能 (néng is second tone)

  7. 不想 (xiǎng is third tone)

  8. 不会 (huì is fourth tone)

Matching

0/6

Match each sentence to its English. One verb, two negators, two meanings.

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Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. The two negators at a glance
  3. The two negators at a glance
  4. 不 (bù): the present, the future, habits, and adjectives
  5. 没 (méi): what did not happen
  6. 有 (yǒu) only ever takes 没
  7. The tone change: bù becomes bú before a fourth tone
  8. Mistakes English speakers make
  9. The cheatsheet

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between (bù) and (méi)?
(bù) negates the present, the future, habits, willingness and adjectives: (wǒ bú qù, I am not going / I will not go), (wǒ bù xǐhuan zhège, I do not like this). (méi) negates actions that did not happen: (wǒ méi qù, I did not go), (tā méi lái, he did not come). The quick test: if the English negative uses 'didn't' or 'haven't', reach for ; for everything else, reach for .
Why is wrong in Mandarin?
(yǒu, to have / there is) is the one verb that never takes . Its only negative form is (méi yǒu): (wǒ méi yǒu kāfēi, I have no coffee). simply does not exist in the language, at any tense, in any register, and it is one of the commonest beginner errors.
When does (bù) change tone to bú?
is fourth tone (bù) by default, but when the next syllable is also fourth tone, shifts to second tone: bú. So is bú shì, is bú qù and is bú yào, while (bù hǎo), (bù lái) and (bù néng) keep bù. The character is written either way; only the pronunciation changes.
Can (méi) negate an adjective?
Not in the plain 'X is not Y' sense. Adjectives take : (zhège bù hǎo, this one is not good). With (hái, still), can say a change has not happened yet: (tā hái méi hǎo, he is not better yet). That is a change that did not happen, which is 's job.
Do I use or to talk about the future?
Use . negates things that did not happen, so it has no business in a plain future sentence. 'I am not going tomorrow' is (wǒ míngtiān bú qù), never . The one apparent exception, for 'will not have', is really the rule winning: takes everywhere, including the future.