If you're trying to learn Chinese Negation which is also called Mandarin, check our courses about Negation and negative expressions... to help you with your Chinese grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and notice the pattern that occurs each time the word changes its place. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Chinese. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!
Learning the Chinese Negation is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you practice the subject, the closer you get to mastering the Chinese language. But first we need to know what the role of Negation is in the structure of the grammar in Chinese.
Chinese negation is the process that turns an affirmative statement (I am happy) into its opposite denial (I am not happy).
In Chinese there are 不 bù and 没有 méi yǒu are the negations. 不 bù is used to negate verbs, wo bu qu 我不去 wǒ bù qù , I won’t go, 没有 méi yǒu to negate nouns 我没有房子 wǒ méi yǒu fáng zi I don’t hav a house. Here are some examples:
| English Negation | Chinese Negation |
|---|---|
| Negation | fǒu dìng cí - 否定词 |
| he is not here | tā;tuó bù zài zhè lǐ - 他不在这里 |
| that is not my book | nà;nèi bú shì wǒ de shū - 那不是我的书 |
| do not enter | bù kě yǐ jìn qù - 不可以进去 |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Negation in Chinese has a logical pattern. Locate the Negation above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Mandarin.
In Mandarin, negation can be made simply by placing "No" , or a negative before the main verb. There are a number of negatives in Mandarin, but the most common one is bu. An example; wo yao (I want), wo bu yao (I don’t want) But as stated above there are a number of negatives in Mandarin and they can have different uses.
Below is a list of the Negation and negative expressions in Chinese placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Chinese vocabulary.
| English Negation | Chinese Negation |
|---|---|
| I don't speak | wǒ bù shuō;shuì - 我不说 |
| I don't write | wǒ bù xiě - 我不写 |
| I don't drive | wǒ bù kāi chē - 我不开车 |
| I don't love | wǒ bù xǐ huān - 我不喜欢 |
| I don't give | wǒ bù gěi - 我不给 |
| I don't smile | wǒ bù xiào - 我不笑 |
| I don't take | wǒ bù ná - 我不拿 |
| he doesn't speak | tā;tuó bù shuō;shuì - 他不说 |
| he doesn't write | tā;tuó bù xiě - 他不写 |
| he doesn't drive | tā;tuó bù kāi chē - 他不开车 |
| he doesn't love | tā;tuó bù xǐ huān - 他不喜欢 |
| he doesn't give | tā;tuó bù gěi - 他不给 |
| he doesn't smile | tā;tuó bù xiào - 他不笑 |
| he doesn't take | tā;tuó bù ná - 他不拿 |
| we don't speak | wǒ men bù shuō;shuì - 我们不说 |
| we don't write | wǒ men bù xiě - 我们不写 |
| we don't drive | wǒ men bù kāi chē - 我们不开车 |
| we don't love | wǒ men bù xǐ huān - 我们不喜欢 |
| we don't give | wǒ men bù gěi - 我们不给 |
| we don't smile | wǒ men bù xiào - 我们不笑 |
| we don't take | wǒ men bù ná - 我们不拿 |
Negation and negative expressions have a very important role in Chinese, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with the Mandarin Negation, you might want to check the rest of our Chinese lessons here: Learn Chinese. Don't forget to bookmark this page.
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