没 (méi): (negative prefix for verbs) have not, not, drowned, to end
没 (méi) is a Chinese character meaning “(negative prefix for verbs) have not.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 殳 (phonetic). It ranks #72 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 没 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- (negative prefix for verbs) have not
- not
- drowned
- to end
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 没 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 没
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't | 1 |
| 没关系 | méi guān xi | it doesn't matter | 1 |
| 没事verb | méi shì | it's not important | 1 |
| 没意思 | méi yì si | boring | 2 |
| 淹没verb | yān mò | to submerge | 6 |
| 没法儿verb | méi fǎ r | (coll.) can't do anything about it | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 没什么 | méi shén me | it doesn't matter |
| 从没 | cóng méi | never (in the past) |
| 没事儿 | méi shì r | to have spare time |
| 没法 | méi fǎ | at a loss |
| 没用 | méi yòng | useless |
| 没准 | méi zhǔn | not sure |
| 没错 | méi cuò | that's right |
| 没收 | mò shōu | to confiscate |
| 没戏 | méi xì | (coll.) not a chance |
| 没命 | méi mìng | to lose one's life |
| 出没 | chū mò | to come and go |
| 没劲 | méi jìn | to have no strength |
| 沉没 | chén mò | to sink |
| 没辙 | méi zhé | at one's wit's end |
| 没落 | mò luò | to decline |
没 appears in 100 compound words: 72 as the first character, 23 as the last, and 5 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 没 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (15)
lit. will not be forgotten even after one's teeth fall out; to remember as long as one lives; unforgettable (idiom)
memorable for the rest of one's life (usually for describing someone else's mercy or kind deed)
to have no sense of who is senior and who is junior; to show no respect to elders
inattentive; scatter-brained; heartless (usually jokingly between friends)
lit. will not be forgotten even after one's teeth fall out; to remember as long as one lives; unforgettable (idiom)
memorable for the rest of one's life (usually for describing someone else's mercy or kind deed)
Showing 12 of 15 idioms containing 没.
Example Sentences
这部电影没有我想象的那么好看，剧情有些拖沓。
Zhè bù diànyǐng méiyǒu wǒ xiǎngxiàng de nàme hǎokàn, jùqíng yǒuxiē tuōtà.
This movie is not as good as I imagined; the plot is somewhat dragging.
没有你想的那么光鲜 有些冬奥选手已私下在做...
méi yǒu nǐ xiǎng de nà má guāng xiān yǒu xiē dōng ào xuǎn shǒu yǐ sī xià zài zuò . . .
It's not as glamorous as you think, and some Winter Olympians are already doing it in private...
为什么百货公司一楼没厕?背后原因超心机
wéi shén má bǎi huò gōng sī yī lóu méi cè ? bèi hòu yuán yīn chāo xīn jī
Why is there no toilet on the first floor of a department store? The reason behind it is super scheming
一辆载有8名中国游客的汽车在俄贝加尔湖沉没
yī liàng zài yǒu 8 míng zhōng guó yóu kè de qì chē zài é bèi jiā ěr hú chén méi
A car carrying eight Chinese tourists sank in Lake Baikal
“外卖在变,人情味没变”——骑手与城市的“互暖”新..
wài mài zài biàn , rén qíng wèi méi biàn qí shǒu yú chéng shì de hù nuǎn xīn . .
"Takeaways are changing, but the human touch remains the same" - Riders and the city's "mutual warmth" new...
原声毕录|“你是卫冕冠军,没有另外一个”
yuán shēng bì lù nǐ shì wèi 冕 guàn jūn , méi yǒu lìng wài yī gě
"You're the reigning champion, and there's no other one."
我希望没打扰到你吧？
Wǒ xīwàng méi dǎrǎo dào nǐ ba?
I hope I'm not disturbing you.
你今早有没有吃早餐？
Nǐ jīn zǎo yǒuméiyǒu chī zǎocān?
Did you have breakfast this morning?
我不在的时候有没有人来？
Wǒ bù zài de shíhou yǒuméiyǒu rén lái?
Did anyone come in my absence?
你有没有看完整本书？
Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu kàn wán zhěng běn shū?
Did you read the whole book?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 没 (méi) mean in Chinese?
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What are the components of 没?
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What characters sound the same as 没 (méi)?
Is 没 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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