Chinese Grammar Bank
USING 不 AND 没
Many learners get confused with these two characters because both of them have the meaning “not” as a negation word in English, but they are used quite differently.
In this article, we will cover all usages of 不 and 没, so by the end, you’ll become a master at using negative sentences!
不 AND 没 IN DECLARATIVE SENTENCES
不 (bù) in Declarative Sentences
不 (bù) negates present actions
不 (bù) shows that an activity isn’t happening. It’s used to oppose an action you do not want to do.
PATTERN
Subject + 不 + Verb
不 (bù) negates habitual actions
不 (bù) can be used to oppose habitual actions, which indicates something you are not used to doing.
PATTERN
Subject + 不 + Verb + Object
不 (bù) negates future actions
不 (bù) is used to negate an action that you do not intend to do.
PATTERN
Subject + 不 + Verb
没 (méi) in Declarative Sentences
没 (méi) negates past actions (can be replaced by 没有）
没 (méi) is used to refute/deny actions that occurred in the past.
PATTERN
Subject + 没 + Verb + Object
没 (méi) can say something has not happened yet
PATTERN
Subject + 没 + Verb + Object
没 (méi) can be used to indicate something has not been experienced
“过” has to be used after the verb.
PATTERN #1
Subject + 没 + Verb + 过 + Object
|
我没吃过中国菜。
wǒ méi chīguò zhōngguó cài I have never eaten Chinese food |
PATTERN #2
Subject + (从来) 没 + 去 + 过 + place
|
我(从来)没去过中国。
wǒ (cónglái) méi qùguò zhōngguó I have never (ever) been to China |
BONUS: 不 + adjective
不 (bù) is used with adjectives. When it comes to a simple negation of an adjective, use 不 (bù).
PATTERN
Subject + 不 + Adjective
The negation of adjectives is generally used “不”, but sometimes you can hear 没 + adjective, which implies that the state has not changed.
不 AND 没 IN INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES
Question with 没 (méi)
As mentioned previously, 没 is used with the past tense, as well as to describe that something has not yet been experienced or didn’t happen yet.
PATTERN
Subject + Verb + 没 + Verb + Object？
| Subject + Verb + 没 + Verb + 过 + Object？ | Subject + 去 + 没 + 去 + 过 + place？ |
|---|---|
|
你吃没吃过中国菜？
nǐ chī méi chīguò zhōngguó cài? Have you ever tried Chinese food? |
你去没去过中国?
nǐ qù méi qùguò zhōngguó? Have you ever been to China? |
Question with 不 (bù)
As mentioned, 不 is used for present or future actions. It is the same in the interrogative form:
PATTERN
Subject + Verb + 不 + Verb + Object？
| Present or habit actions | Future actions |
|---|---|
|
你吃不吃四川菜?
nǐ chī bù chī sìchuān cài Do you eat Sichuan food? |
你们周末上不上班？
nǐmen zhōumò shàng bù shàngbān Will you go to work this weekend? |
不 (bù) can also be used to form tag questions.
PATTERN
Sentence，好+不+好 / 对+不+对？
Tag questions are used to seek approval or acceptance for a statement, very similar to the English “OK?” or “right?”
You can’t use 没 (méi) for this.
| ❌ 我们去游泳，好没好？ | ❌. 你们是好朋友，对没对？ |
| ✅ 我们去游泳，好不好? | ✅ 你们是好朋友，对不对? |
不, 没 AND 是, 有, 在
Only 不 (bù) negates 是 (shì)
不 (bù) can be used to reverse the verb 是 (shì), which is the word for ‘to be’ changing the meaning “to not be”.
PATTERN
Subject + 不 + 是 + predictive
|
我不是医生。
(present) wǒ bùshì yīshēng I am not a doctor |
我以前不是老师。
(past) wǒ yǐqián bùshì lǎoshī I was not a teacher before |
|
今天不是星期一。
jīntiān bùshì xīngqí yī Today is not Monday |
昨天不是8月15号。
zuótiān bùshì 8 yuè 15 hào Yesterday was not August 15th |
Only 没 (méi) negates 有 (yǒu)
没 (méi) can be used to negate the verb 有 (yǒu) (to have) to mean “do not have”.
PATTERN
Subject + 没 + 有 + Object
Both 不 (bù) and 没 (méi) can negate 在 (zài)
And they have the same meaning (to be in/at)!
昨天我没在家。= 昨天我不在家。
zuótiān wǒ méi zàijiā = zuótiān wǒ bù zàijiā.
I was not home yesterday.
| ✅ 我不是学生。 | ❌ 我不有钱。 |
| ❌ 我没是学生。 | ✅ 我没有钱。 |
NOTE || “没有 + verb + Object” and “没 + 有 + Object”
| Subject + 没有 + Verb + Object | Subject + 没 + 有 + Object |
|---|---|
|
我没有喝酒。
wǒ méiyǒu hējiǔ. I didn’t drink wine yesterday. |
我没有酒。
wǒ méiyǒu jiǔ. I don’t have wine. |
| 没有 = 没 | 没 + 有 (verb) |
In the above example, “有” can be omitted and the meaning doesn’t change.
COMPARISONS WITH 不 AND 没
不 (bù) can be used to make simple comparisons such as “not as… as…”:
PATTERN
Noun 1 + 不比 / 不如 + Noun 2 + Adjective
没 (méi) or 没有 (méiyǒu) can also be used to make simple comparisons such as “not as… as…”:
PATTERN
Noun 1 + 没有 + Noun 2 + Adjective
COLLOCATIONS OF 不 AND 没
It’s best to accumulate these one by one.
没 (méi)
| 没办法 | méi bànfǎ | There is no way. |
| 我没办法。= 我没有办法。 | wǒ méi bànfǎ.= wǒ méiyǒu bànfǎ. | I don’t have a way. |
不 (bù)
| 不知道 | bù zhīdào | Don’t know |
| 不认识 | bù rènshi | Don’t know (a person) |
| 我不知道他要来 | wǒ bù zhīdào tā yào lái | I didn’t know he was coming. |
| 他小时候不认识她 | tā xiǎoshíhòu bù rènshí tā | He did not know her when he was young. |
可不 (是)
When we use 可不 or 可不是 as an independent expression, even with negative word 不, it means “Exactly!”.
| A：
地铁上的人真多!
dìtiě shàng de rén zhēn duō! There are so many people on the subway! | B:
可不 (是) !
kěbù (shì)! That’s so true! |
不 AND 没 EXPRESSING AFFIRMATIVE
不 and 没 usually indicate negative expressions, which makes it confusing, since they can also represent affirmative expressions.
好容易 and 好不容易 (very easy and very not easy)
容易 (rónɡyì) means “easy”, and 好 (hǎo) here is used as an adverb which means “very“.
In this sense, these two phrases are expressing two opposite meanings. However, they are both used before verbs to indicate how difficult it is to do something.
I finally passed the HSK test for level 6:
| 我好容易通过了HSK六级考试。 | wǒ hǎo rónɡyì tōnɡɡuòle liùjí kǎoshì. |
| 我好不容易通过了HSK六级考试。 | wǒ hǎo bù rónɡyì tōnɡɡuòle liùjí kǎoshì. |
We finally climbed to the mountain top:
| 我们好容易爬到了山顶。 | wǒmen hǎo rónɡyì pá dàole shāndǐnɡ. |
| 我们好不容易爬到了山顶。 | wǒmen hǎo bù rónɡyì pá dàole shāndǐnɡ. |
差点 and 差点没 (almost and almost not)
When they are followed by things that people want to happen, both 差点 (chàdiǎn) and 差点没 (chàdiǎn méi) express the opposite meanings for the following verbs.
差点: negative ≠ 差点没: affirmative
I almost passed the HSK test for level 6: 我差点通过了HSK六级考试。(wǒ chàdiǎn tōnɡɡuòle liùjí kǎoshì.)
Even though there’s no negative word in this example, it still means “I didn’t pass the test”.
I just barely passed the HSK test for level 6. 我差点没通过HSK六级考试. (wǒ chàdiǎn méi tōnɡɡuò liùjí kǎoshì.)
There’s a negative word 没 in this example, but it means “I passed the test”.
When they are followed by things that people don’t want to happen, both 差点 (chàdiǎn) and 差点没 (chàdiǎn méi) mean that thing didn’t happen.
差点 = 差点没: negative
I almost broke the cup:
| 我差点摔坏了杯子。 | wǒ chàdiǎn shuāihuàile bēizi. |
| 我差点没摔坏杯子。 | wǒ chàdiǎn méi shuāihuài bēizi. |
Both sentences mean “I didn’t break the cup”.
My wallet almost got stolen:
| 我的钱包差点被偷了。 | wǒde qiánbāo chàdiǎn bèi tōule. |
| 我的钱包差点没被偷。 | wǒde qiánbāo chàdiǎn méi bèi tōu. |
Both sentences mean “My wallet wasn’t stolen”.
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FAQs
What is the difference between 不 and 没?
The main difference between 不 and 没 is that 不 is used for present and future sentences.
没 is solely used for sentences written in the past tense.
Both characters have many uses, check out our full article for more explanation and sentence examples.
What is the pinyin of 不 and 没?
不 is pronounced bù.
没 is pronounced méi.
Do you know about the Chinese tones? Read this super helpful guide to remember them FOREVER.
How to use 不?
不 has lots of different uses, here are the main ones, check out our article for more explanations.
1) 不 (bù) Negates present actions: Subject + 不 + Verb
2) 不 (bù) Negates habitual actions: Subject + 不 + Verb + Object
3) 不 (bù) Negates future actions: Subject + 不 + Verb
4) 不 (bù) is used with adjectives: Subject + 不 + Adjective
5) Question with 不 (bù): Subject + Verb + 不 + Verb + Object？
How to use 没?
Just like 不, 没 can be used in various situations, even though only used in the past tense. Here are some of the main structures:
1) 没 / 没有 Negates Past Actions: Subject + 没 + Verb + Object
2) 没 (méi) can say something has not happened yet: Subject + 没 + Verb + Object
3) 没 (méi) can use to indicate something has not been experienced: Subject + 没 + Verb + 过 + Object
4) Question with 没: Subject + Verb + 没 + Verb + Obj？
What are some examples of the 不 and 没 structures?
– 我不吃肉。wǒ bù chī ròu. I don’t eat meat.
– 老板明天不来。lǎobǎn míngtiān bù lái. The boss won’t come tomorrow.
– 你们周末上不上班？nǐmen zhōumò shàng bù shàngbān. Will you go to work this weekend?
– 我昨天没喝酒。wǒ zuótiān méi hējiǔ. I didn’t drink alcohol yesterday
– 妈妈没做晚饭。māmā méi zuò wǎnfàn. Mom didn’t cook dinner.
– 你吃没吃过中国菜？ nǐ chī méi chīguò zhōngguó cài? Have you ever tried Chinese food?
How to learn Chinese grammar?
Just like for any other language, start with the basics.
First of all, Chinese is a SVO language (Subject – Verb – Object), like many European languages and English. Add to that a negation word or a question word, and you can now express yourself in a lot of new different ways!
Take it slow and nail the basics down before learning more complex sentences. 加油！