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不
bù
not
我不喜欢咖啡。
I do not like coffee.
formal
A negative adverb used to negate verbs or adjectives in Chinese.
他不去学校。
He does not go to school.
这个问题不难。
This question is not difficult.
Placed before the verb or adjective it negates. In spoken Chinese, it can sometimes be omitted in certain contexts, but this is not standard in written or formal speech.
Related Phrases
Pro Tip
Positioning of 不
不 always comes before the verb or adjective it negates. For example, 不好 means 'not good,' and 不吃 means 'do not eat.'
Gold Rule
Negation with 不
Use 不 to negate verbs (e.g., 不去 'do not go'), adjectives (e.g., 不高 'not tall'), and some auxiliary verbs (e.g., 不能 'cannot').
Word Origin
The character 不 originates from the ancient Chinese character for 'foot' (止) with a mark indicating negation, evolving into a standalone character meaning 'not' by the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE).
Usage Notes
In modern Mandarin, 不 is the most common negative particle. It cannot negate nouns directly; for that, 不 is combined with 是 to form 不是. In some southern Chinese dialects, 唔 (m̀) or other variants may be used instead.
Word Breakdown
不
negative particle
root汉英词典