不 bù

  1. bù adverb not; no
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Function Words , Concept: Negation 否定
    Notes: 不 is used for simple negation, as opposed to 没, which is used for existence. 不 is used before adjectives, adverbs, and verbs, except 有 (Li Shaoqi, 2003, p. 26; Ho 2002, '不'; NCCED '不' 1). For example, 不知道是怎回事 '[He] did not he did not know how that was possible.' (Lao She, 2003, p. 207) This use is similar in both modern and literary Chinese (Pulleyblank 1995, p. 103). For example, in literary Chinese, 不可，直不百步耳，是亦走也。'They should not do so. Though they did not run a hundred paces, yet they also ran away.' (Meng 1.3/1/26, translation by Legge) The tone is changed to bú when 不 is followed by a syllable with fourth tone, in accordance with tone sandhi 变调. For example, 不去 bú qù 'will not go' (Sun 2006, loc. 545). 不 is the sixth most frequently used word in the Beijing Language Institute's 1985 frequency wordlist (Ho 2002, '不').
  2. bù adverb expresses that a certain condition cannot be acheived
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Function Words , Concept: Negation 否定
    Notes: In this pattern 不 is used after a verb to form a complement (Li Shaoqi, 2003, p. 27; NCCED '不' 7) For example, 洗不掉 'could not be washed away.' (Lao She, 2003, p. 211).
  3. bù adverb as a correlative
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Spoken Language
    Notes: Used to form as a correlative with 就 in the pattern 不 ... 就 (NCCED '不' 9)...
  4. bù adverb no (answering a question)
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Function Words
    Notes: 不 can be used independently to answer a preceding question (Li Shaoqi, 2003, p. 26; NCCED '不' 5).
  5. bù adverb forms a negative adjective from a noun
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Function Words , Concept: Negation 否定
    Notes: For example, 不运气 'unlucky' (NCCED '不' 4)
  6. bù adverb at the end of a sentence to form a question
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Spoken Language
    Notes: In this form 不 is used at the end of the sentence to turn it into a question (NCCED '不' 6).
  7. bù adverb to form a yes or no question
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Spoken Language
    Notes: In this form 不 is used to offer an alternative as part of a question (NCCED '不' 8). For example, 商量商量好不好？ 'Can we talk about it?' (Lao She, 2003, p. 216)
  8. bù infix infix potential marker
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Function Words , Concept: Negation 否定
    Notes: 不 is one of the two infixes in Chinese, the other being 得 'can'. For example, 看不见 'cannot see' (Sun 2006, loc. 728).

Contained in

Also contained in

不丹 、 那不勒斯

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Truncated for common words