不 and 没 — Negation in Mandarin
Negate verbs with 不 (bù) for present/future and habitual, or 没有 (méi yǒu) for past and possession. Learn the tone change: 不 becomes 2nd tone before another 4th-tone syllable (bú shì).
A lesson of Mandarin Chinese A1 — Beginner, in Sentence Structure, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will negate Mandarin verbs and adjectives correctly using 不 (bù) and 没有 (méi yǒu).
Two Negation Words — Different Jobs
Mandarin uses two main negation particles:
| Particle | Pinyin | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 不 | bù | Present habits, future intentions, general states, adjectives, 是 |
| 没 / 没有 | méi / méi yǒu | Past events, negating 有, absence of completed action |
不 (bù) — The Default Negator
Place 不 directly before the verb or adjective:
Subject + 不 + verb/adjective
| Positive | Negative | English |
|---|---|---|
| 我去。 | 我不去。 | I won't go. / I don't go. |
| 她吃肉。 | 她不吃肉。 | She doesn't eat meat. |
| 他喜欢咖啡。 | 他不喜欢咖啡。 | He doesn't like coffee. |
| 今天热。 | 今天不热。 | Today is not hot. |
| 这是我的。 | 这不是我的。 | This is not mine. |
The 不 Tone Change (Sandhi)
不 is normally 4th tone (bù). Before another 4th-tone syllable, it shifts to 2nd tone (bú):
不是 → bú shì (2+4) 不对 → bú duì (2+4) 不去 → bú qù (2+4)
Before 1st, 2nd, or 3rd tones, 不 stays 4th: 不来 (bù lái), 不好 (bù hǎo).
没有 (méi yǒu) — Past Actions & Possession
Use 没有 (often shortened to 没 in speech) for:
Negating past completed actions
Subject + 没(有) + verb
我没去。 (Wǒ méi qù.) — I didn't go. 她没吃早饭。 (Tā méi chī zǎofàn.) — She didn't eat breakfast. 他们没看那部电影。 (Tāmen méi kàn nà bù diànyǐng.) — They didn't watch that movie.