Saying no: bù and méi
不 for now, for habits and for the future, and 没 and 没有 for what did not happen. At Higher, 别 and 不要 to tell someone not to, and 不用 and 不必 for "need not".
Learn
Saying no: bù and méi, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Use 不 for now, for habits and for the future
不 goes straight before the verb: 我不吃肉。 (I don't eat meat.) 明天我不去。 (I'm not going tomorrow.) Before a fourth tone it is said bú, so 不去 sounds like bú qù.
Use 没 or 没有 for something that didn't happen
没 or 没有 before a verb says an action didn't happen: 昨天我没去学校。 (I didn't go to school yesterday.) With 还 it means not yet: 我还没吃早饭。 A sentence with 没 never takes 了.
Say you don't have something with 没有
有 is the one verb that only ever takes 没: 我没有时间。 这儿没有银行。 There is no such word as 不有.
Use 不 with 是, adjectives and modal verbs
是, adjectives and verbs like 会, 想 and 可以 take 不, even when you talk about the past: 他不是老师。 昨天不冷。 我不会游泳。 Likes and states in the past take 不 too: 以前我不喜欢鱼。 (I didn't use to like fish.)
Put the negative in the right place
不 or 没 comes after the subject and any time word, before the rest: 我今天不在家吃晚饭。 With 都 the order changes the meaning: 我们都不去 means none of us is going, but 我们不都去 means not all of us are.
Say no longer with 不…了
不 before the verb and 了 at the end mean not any more: 我不喜欢肉了。 (I don't like meat any more.) 我不累了。 (I'm not tired now.) The 了 tells you something has changed.
Tell someone not to do something with 别 and 不要Higher only
别 or 不要 before a verb makes a negative command: 别玩手机！ (Put your phone away!) 请不要在这儿吃东西。 (Please don't eat here.) Signs and rules often use 不要, and 请 in front makes it polite.
Say you needn't with 不用 and 不必Higher only
不用 and 不必 mean you don't have to: 明天不用上学。 (There's no school tomorrow.) 你不必来。 They are the negative of 必须 (must), which never takes 不 itself.
Saying no: bù and méi key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- 不
- Not, for the present, for habits and the future, and with 是, adjectives and modal verbs.
- 没 and 没有
- Did not or have not, for actions that didn't happen. 没有 also means don't have.
- 还没
- Not yet: 我还没吃晚饭 (I haven't had dinner yet).
- 不…了
- No longer, not any more: 我不累了.
- 都不
- None of, not at all: 我们都不去 (none of us is going).
- Negative
- A sentence that says no or not, made with 不 or 没 before the verb.
- 别Higher only
- Don't, telling someone not to do something: 别去.
- 不要Higher only
- Don't, a little softer than 别 and common on signs: 不要玩手机.
- 不用Higher only
- Needn't, don't have to, the negative of must: 你不用来.
Common mistakes in Saying no: bù and méi
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Using 不 for something that didn't happen, as in 昨天我不去.
For a past action that didn't happen, use 没: 昨天我没去.
Using 没 with 是 or an adjective, as in 他没是老师 or 昨天没冷.
是 and adjectives take 不, even in the past: 他不是老师, 昨天不冷.
Writing 我们不都去 when you mean none of us is going.
都不 means none of; 不都 means not all of. For none, put 不 after 都: 我们都不去.
Saying 不 with a fourth tone before another fourth tone, as in bù qù for 不去.
Before a fourth tone, 不 rises to a second tone: bú qù, bú shì. It sounds smoother, and it is how everyone says it.
Saying 不要 when you mean don't need to, as in 你不要来 for you don't have to come.Higher only
不要 tells someone not to come. For don't need to, use 不用: 你不用来.
Practice
Try a Saying no: bù and méi question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which sentence means 'I was ill yesterday, so I didn't go to school'?
- 我昨天病了，没去学校。
- 我昨天病了，没去学校了。
- 我昨天没病，去学校了。
- 我昨天病了，不是去学校。
Show the answer and the working
Answer: 我昨天病了，没去学校。
病了 says you were ill, and 没去学校 says you didn't go: 没 for what did not happen, with no 了.
- 病了 means was ill: it happened, so 了.
- 没去学校 means didn't go to school: it did not happen, so 没 with no 了.