不 (bù): no, not so, (bound form) not, un-
不 (bù) is a Chinese character meaning “no.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 一 (structural). It ranks #4 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 不 a bird flying toward the sky 一. Its radical form 一 (one) appears in many related characters such as 一 (yī, one), 七 (qī, seven), 三 (sān, three).
Definitions
- no
- not so
- (bound form) not
- un-
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA bird flying toward the sky 一
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 不
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 不过conjunction/adverb | bù guò | only | 4 |
| 不要adverb | bù yào | don't! | 1 |
| 对不起verb | duì bu qǐ | I'm sorry | 1 |
| 不错adjective | bù cuò | correct | 2 |
| 不管conjunction | bù guǎn | not to be concerned | 4 |
| 不行verb/adjective | bù xíng | won't do | 3 |
| 不同verb | bù tóng | different | 3 |
| 不好意思adjective | bù hǎo yì si | to feel embarrassed | 2 |
| 不用adverb | bù yòng | need not | 3 |
| 差不多adjective/adverb | chà bu duō | almost | 3 |
| 不得不adverb | bù dé bù | have no choice or option but to | 4 |
| 不然conjunction/adjective | bù rán | not so | 5 |
| 不必adverb | bù bì | need not | 4 |
| 不幸adjective/noun | bù xìng | misfortune | 5 |
| 不够verb/adverb | bù gòu | not enough | 4 |
| 不许verb | bù xǔ | not to allow | 6 |
| 不客气interjection | bù kè qi | you're welcome | 1 |
| 不见verb | bù jiàn | not to see | 3 |
| 不断verb/adverb | bù duàn | unceasing | 4 |
| 受不了verb | shòu bù liǎo | unbearable | 4 |
| 了不起adjective | liǎo bu qǐ | amazing | 5 |
| 不仅conjunction | bù jǐn | not just | 4 |
| 说不定verb/adverb | shuō bu dìng | can't say for sure | 5 |
| 不久adjective | bù jiǔ | not long (after) | 3 |
| 不止verb/adverb | bù zhǐ | incessantly | 6 |
| 不安adjective | bù ān | unpeaceful | 6 |
| 不论conjunction | bù lùn | whatever | 4 |
| 不如verb | bù rú | not equal to | 4 |
| 从不adverb | cóng bù | never | 5 |
| 不利adjective | bù lì | unfavorable | 5 |
| 毫不adverb | háo bù | hardly | 6 |
| 要不然conjunction | yào bù rán | otherwise | 5 |
| 不足verb/noun | bù zú | insufficient | 5 |
| 来不及verb | lái bu jí | there's not enough time (to do sth) | 4 |
| 不要紧adjective | bù yào jǐn | unimportant | 5 |
| 不得verb | bù dé | must not | 6 |
| 要不conjunction | yào bù | otherwise | 5 |
| 不光adverb/conjunction | bù guāng | not the only one | 4 |
| 不良adjective | bù liáng | bad | 5 |
| 不但conjunction | bù dàn | not only (... but also ...) | 3 |
| 不满adjective | bù mǎn | dissatisfied | 4 |
| 不至于verb | bù zhì yú | unlikely to go so far as to | 6 |
| 不得了adjective | bù dé liǎo | desperately serious | 5 |
| 不已verb | bù yǐ | (used after a verb) endlessly | 6 |
| 不顾verb | bù gù | in spite of | 6 |
| 不曾adverb | bù céng | hasn't yet | 6 |
| 不便adjective/verb | bù biàn | inconvenient | 4 |
| 不适adjective | bù shì | unwell | 6 |
| 不符verb | bù fú | inconsistent | 5 |
| 不时adverb/noun | bù shí | from time to time | 6 |
| 舍不得verb | shě bu de | to hate to do sth | 5 |
| 不禁adverb | bù jīn | can't help (doing sth) | 6 |
| 不耐烦adjective | bù nài fán | impatient | 6 |
| 好不adverb | hǎo bù | not at all ... | 6 |
| 不成verb/adjective/particle | bù chéng | won't do | 6 |
| 不宜verb | bù yí | not suitable | 6 |
| 看不起verb | kàn bu qǐ | to look down upon | 6 |
| 要不是conjunction | yào bu shì | if it were not for | 5 |
| 不料conjunction | bù liào | unexpectedly | 6 |
不 appears in 279 compound words: 54 as the first character, 4 as the last, and 41 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 不 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (639)
to temporarily stand down one's army (to wait and see how things develop)
indomitable; unfazed by difficulties or challenges; (slightly derogatory) stubborn; persistent
Showing 12 of 639 idioms containing 不.
Example Sentences
不管天气多么糟糕，他每天都坚持去公园跑步锻炼身体。
Bùguǎn tiānqì duōme zāogāo, tā měitiān dōu jiānchí qù gōngyuán pǎobù duànliàn shēntǐ.
No matter how bad the weather is, he insists on going to the park to run and exercise every day.
春晚的另一场“巷战”:AI挤进春节档,不止为了发红..
chūn wǎn de lìng yī chǎng xiàng zhàn jǐ jìn chūn jié dǎng , bù zhǐ wéi le fā hóng . .
Another "Alley-oop" at the Spring Festival Gala: AI is squeezing into the Spring Festival slot, not just to send out red...
春节不打烊,广州交投集团中欧班列预计发运9列、...
chūn jié bù dǎ 烊 , guǎng zhōu jiāo tóu jí tuán zhōng ōu bān liè yù jì fā yùn liè . . .
The Spring Festival is not closed, Guangzhou Jiaotou Group is expected to ship 9 trains, ...
被抓现行!菲律宾海警在南海投放不明物体
bèi zhuā xiàn háng ! 菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài nán hǎi tóu fàng bù míng wù tī
Caught in the act! Philippine Maritime Police Drop Unidentified Objects in South China Sea
宁远县城管局:禁燃禁放不松懈 守护平安祥和年
nìng yuǎn xiàn chéng guǎn jú jīn rán jīn fàng bù sōng xiè shǒu hù píng ān xiáng hé nián
Ningyuan County Urban Management Bureau: ban on burning and discharge of no slack guarding the peace and tranquility of the year
冬奥会|冰壶男子循环赛:中国队不敌加拿大队
dōng ào huì bīng hú nán zǐ xún huán sài zhōng guó duì bù dí jiā ná dà duì
Winter Olympics | Men's Curling Round Robin: China Falls to Canada
那是幢高楼，不是吗？
Nà shì zhuàng gāolóu, bù shì ma?
That is a high building, is it not?
你来不来我的派对啊？
Nǐ lái bù lái wǒ de pàiduì ā?
Would you like to come to my party?
我能不能看一下你的报纸？
Wǒ néng bù néng kàn yīxià nǐ de bàozhǐ?
Can I have a look at your newspaper?
我的新髮型是不是很奇怪？
Wǒ de xīn fàxíng shìbùshì hěn qíguài?
Is my new hair style funny?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 不 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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