不 (bù): The General Negator | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

不 (bù) is the workhorse negator of Mandarin — the one you reach for by default. It covers the habitual ("I don't eat meat"), the intended and future ("I'm not going tomorrow"), states and qualities ("he isn't tall"), willingness and refusals ("I don't want any"), and every modal verb ("I can't swim"). Structurally it's simple: 不 sits directly before the word it negates — a verb, an adjective, a modal, or the copula 是. The only jobs 不 does not do are negating completed actions and the verb 有, which fall to 没 instead (see 不 vs 没). Because Chinese adjectives are verbs, 不 attaches straight to them with no "to be" — a small fact that eliminates a whole class of English-transfer errors.

Where 不 goes: straight before the word

The placement rule has no exceptions worth memorising separately: 不 + [the negated word]. With a modal, 不 goes before the modal; with the copula, before 是; with an adjective, before the adjective.

我不吃肉。

wǒ bù chī ròu

I don't eat meat. (neutral) — 不 straight before the verb 吃; a standing habit.

他不是老师。

tā bú shì lǎoshī

He's not a teacher. (neutral) — 不 before the copula 是: 不是.

我不会游泳。

wǒ bú huì yóuyǒng

I can't swim. (neutral) — 不 before the modal 会; note 不 shifts to bú before the 4th-tone 会.

💡

不 changes tone before a fourth-tone syllable: 不去 becomes bú qù, 不是 becomes bú shì, 不会 becomes bú huì. Everywhere else it stays bù (不吃 bù chī, 不高 bù gāo). The characters never change — only the spoken tone. The full rule lives on the 不 tone sandhi page.

The five domains of 不

Everything 不 negates falls into a few recognisable buckets. Learning them as a set stops you from second-guessing.

Domain	Example	Gloss
Habit / general truth	我不吃肉	I don't eat meat
Intention / future	我明天不去	I'm not going tomorrow
State / adjective	他不高	he isn't tall
Modal / ability	我不会开车	I can't drive
Copula 是 / refusal	他不是学生 / 我不要	he's not a student / I don't want it

我明天不去。

wǒ míngtiān bú qù

I'm not going tomorrow. (informal) — a future intention, squarely 不 territory.

谢谢，我不要。

xièxie, wǒ bú yào

Thanks, I don't want any. (informal) — a polite refusal with 不要.

我不喜欢辣的。

wǒ bù xǐhuan là de

I don't like spicy food. (informal) — a standing preference, so 不.

Adjectives: 不 directly, never 是

This is the point that saves English speakers the most grief. English needs "is not" for adjectives ("he is not tall"), tempting learners to write 他不是高. But Chinese adjectives already function as verbs, so they negate with 不 alone — 他不高 — and inserting 是 is wrong (unless you mean the contrastive 他不是高，是壮 "it's not that he's tall, he's burly").

他不高。

tā bù gāo

He isn't tall. (neutral) — 不 straight onto the adjective; no 是.

这家餐厅不贵。

zhè jiā cāntīng bú guì

This restaurant isn't expensive. (informal) — 不贵; 贵 is 4th tone, so bú.

我今天不太舒服。

wǒ jīntiān bú tài shūfu

I'm not feeling great today. (informal) — 不太 'not very' softens the negation of a state.

With a modal verb (会, 能, 想, 要, 应该), the 不 attaches to the modal, not the main verb. 我不能去 means "I can't go"; moving 不 onto the main verb — 我能不去 — is a different, grammatical sentence meaning "I'm able to not go / I could skip it." Position changes meaning, so keep 不 on the modal.

我不能去。

wǒ bù néng qù

I can't go. (neutral) — 不 before the modal 能; this is 'unable/not allowed to go'.

他不想说话。

tā bù xiǎng shuōhuà

He doesn't want to talk. (informal) — 不 before the modal 想.

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不 denies whatever immediately follows it, so its position can flip the meaning: 我不常去 "I don't often go" (denying the frequency) versus 我常不去 "I often don't go" (denying the going, habitually). When you place 不, put it right in front of the exact word you mean to negate.

Common Mistakes

1. Stretching 不 to a completed action. A finished past event that didn't happen is 没's job, not 不's.

❌ 昨天我不去。

Incorrect — a completed past non-event takes 没: 昨天我没去.

✅ 昨天我没去。

zuótiān wǒ méi qù

I didn't go yesterday. — 没 for completion; see the mei-basics page.

2. Inserting 是 before an adjective. Adjectives are verbs; negate them with 不 alone.

❌ 他不是高。

Incorrect — no 是 before an adjective; say 他不高.

✅ 他不高。

tā bù gāo

He isn't tall. — 不 straight onto the adjective.

3. Putting 不 after the modal. 我能不去 is grammatical but means "I can choose not to go," not "I can't go."

❌ 我能不去。

Wrong meaning for 'I can't go' — this actually says 'I'm able to not go'; for 'I can't go' the 不 must precede the modal.

✅ 我不能去。

wǒ bù néng qù

I can't go. — 不 before the modal 能.

4. Using 不 with 有. The verb 有 refuses 不 entirely; its only negation is 没有.

❌ 我不有钱。

Incorrect — 有 never takes 不; use 没有.

✅ 我没有钱。

wǒ méiyǒu qián

I don't have money. — 没有 is the only negation of 有.

Key Takeaways

不 (bù) is the default negator: habits, intentions/future, states/adjectives, willingness/refusals, and modal verbs.
It sits directly before the negated word — verb, adjective, modal, or 是.
Adjectives negate with 不 alone, no 是 (他不高, never 他不是高).
With a modal, 不 goes before the modal (我不能去); after it changes the meaning.
不 does not negate completed actions or 有 — those take 没 — and it shifts to bú before a 4th-tone syllable (see 不 tone sandhi).

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