(bù) - not, no in Mandarin

bù

Traditional: 不

HSK 1

#9 of 2,700Core 1000

Translation

not, no

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Word origin

不 is one of the oldest negation characters. Its early graph is variously read as a plant sprout that fails to grow or as a bird ascending in flight; in either account it was borrowed early to write the negative 'not, no'.

Origin: ideograph
Root: early graph borrowed for negation

Stroke order

不

Examples

。

I don't like coffee.

。

He isn't at home.

。

This isn't a problem.

。

I do not want to eat.

。

She does not like the rain.

不 (bù) is the standard negation word in Mandarin, used to negate verbs and adjectives.

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Appears in 30 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 不.

不是bú shìis not, am not, are not 不会bú huìcannot, does not know how to; will not 不能bù néngcannot, must not (prohibition or incapacity)不要bú yàodo not (imperative negation)对不起duì bù qǐsorry, excuse me 不过bú guòbut, however, only, merely 是不是shì bu shìis it or isn't it, right?不用bú yòngno need to, don't have to 不错bú cuònot bad, pretty good, correct 不行bù xíngwon't do, not okay, cannot 不管bù guǎnno matter, regardless of, despite 不同bù tóngdifferent, unlike, not the same 不好意思bù hǎo yì siexcuse me, sorry (mild); to feel embarrassed 不再bú zàino longer, not anymore 不然bù ránotherwise, or else, if not so 不该bù gāishould not, ought not to 不够bú gòunot enough, insufficient 不得不bù dé bùhave to, cannot but, must 差不多chà bu duōabout the same, almost, roughly 不必bú bìneed not, not necessary 可不是kě bú shìexactly, isn't it just 不如bù rúnot as good as, would be better to 不在乎bú zài huto not care, to be indifferent to 不准bù zhǔnnot allowed, to forbid, must not 不起bù qǐcannot afford, unable to (verb complement)可不kě bùabsolutely, you bet, isn't it just 不介意bú jiè yìnot to mind, to not care 不见bú jiànto disappear, to not see, to be missing 不敢相信bù gǎn xiāng xìncannot believe, unable to believe 不少bù shǎoquite a few, a lot

Used in

Stories

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Grammar articles

(69)

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Mandarin · Free printables

不: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "不" (not, no): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

This word is taught in chapter 2, lesson 1: 不, 的, 我 and 10 more words.