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Level 3 Adult Class: Know the Difference between "不" and "没"

1,579 views · Published 25 January 2017 · 27:57 · Indexed 24 October 2026

Channel: eChineseLearning · 2017 · Education

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Both 不 (bù) and 没 (méi) can be placed in front of a verb or adjective to form the negative meaning. However, you can't freely switch them back and forth. Let's look at their individual use:

不 (bù) is generally used to negate a future action that you do not want to do or don't plan on doing.

不 (bù) can be used to negate habitual actions, to express what you just aren't in the habit of doing, such as eating meat, or watching TV, or drinking alcohol.

没 (méi) and the common 没有 (méiyǒu) can be used to negate actions that have occurred in the past, or to express that something has not happened yet.

In today's lesson, Teacher Joyce breaks this down for an adult student.

Also in today's lesson, Joyce introduces 在 (zài), which is generally used to express location.

在 (zài) currently has the following grammatical points associated with it:

Expressing existence in a place with "zai"
Expressing actions in progress 
Expressing location with "zai... shang / xia / li" 
Indicating location with "zai" before verbs 
Special cases of "zai" following verbs 
Complements with "dao", "gei" and "zai" 
Expressing actions in progress (full form) 
Idiomatic phrases with "zai" such as:

" 在作馮婦 (Zài zuò féng fù) Get back into old business."

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