Chinese Language Learning Program Lesson 123 – Chinese Negatives

Chinese Language Learning Program

Lesson 123 – Chinese Negatives

Hello, everyone. Welcome back. This is Baixue’s Chinese Language Learning Program. Last time we talked about the difference between “zì gě ér” and “zì jǐ”. Today, we will talk about

Chinese Negatives.

Chinese Negatives are used in the Chinese Negative Sentences to express that something is not true or incorrect.

fǒu dìng cí

 否    定   词 (Negative word)

fǒu dìng jù

 否    定   句 (Negative Sentence)

Chinese Negatives can be very easily formed by simply add the particle 不 (bù) in front of the verb in the sentence. The particle bù can be used for almost all verbs except 有 (yǒu - to have), which uses 沒 (méi) for its negative form and 别 (bié-do not; had better not) which is used more in the imperative Sentences.

1.   bù

不

wǒ bù xiǎng wán’er.

 我  不    想      玩  儿。(I do not want to play.)

wǒ zhōu mò bù qù xué xiào.

 我    周    末  不  去   学    校 。

(I do not go to school on weekends.)

wǒ bù shì xué shēng.

 我  不  是   学      生。 (I am not a student.)

tā bù qù dòng wù yuán.

他 不  去    动    物    园。(He is not going to the zoo.)

From above sentences, we can see the negative form is:

Subject + 不 + Verb  OR

Subject + 不 + Verb + Object

Let’s see some negative sentences which use不 + Adj to express the negative meanings.

jīn tiān bù rè.

今   天   不 热。(Today is not hot.)

tā bù gāo xìng.

他 不   高    兴。(He is not happy.)

nà gè yán sè bù hǎo kàn.

 那 个   颜  色  不   好   看。(That color does not look good.)

Sometimes, we use Subject + Verb + 不 + Verb + Object to form question sentences or tag questions.

nǐ xiǎng bù xiǎng chī bīng jī líng?

你    想    不     想    吃    冰  激  凌？

(Do you want to eat ice cream or not?)

nǐ shì ài wǒ de, duì bù duì?

你  是 爱 我  的，对  不   对？(You love me, right?)

2.   méi yǒu / méi

 没    有 /    没

tā méi yǒu / méi ná wǒ de shū.

他  没   有   /   没  拿  我  的   书。(He did not take my book.)

nǐ zuó tiān méi yǒu / méi lái wǒ jiā.

你   昨  天    没    有  /   没  来  我  家。

(You did not come to my house yesterday.)

From the above example sentences, we can see that 没 and 没有 can be used to express negative actions that happened in the past.

More example:

wǒ méi yǒu hē jiǔ.

我    没    有   喝 酒。(I did not drink.)

wǒ bù hē jiǔ.

 我  不  喝 酒。(I do not drink.)

wǒ bù huì hē jiǔ.

我   不   会  喝 酒。(I do not drink.)

We also use  yǒu + méi + yǒu to form question sentences.

nǐ yǒu méi yǒu xiǎng wǒ?

你  有    没    有     想    我？(Have you ever miss me?)

3.   bié

别

别  is used more in the imperative Sentences to express the negative meanings.

bié pèng wǒ

 别    碰    我 (Do not touch me.)

bié shuō huà le.

 别     说    话  了。(Please do not talk any more.)

bié ràng tā pǎo le.

别     让  他   跑 了。(Please do not let him run away.)

Ok, that is all for today.

xiè  xiè!

 谢   谢 ! (Thanks!)

xià  cì  jiàn

 下  次  见!  (See you next time!)