How to say No in Chinese

By Felipe / Last updated October 26, 2024

What are the first words you usually learn in a new language? "Hello", "thank you", "yes", and "no" are surely among them. Many people who know nothing about Chinese still know how to say the first two: 你好 (nǐhǎo) and 谢谢/謝謝 (xièxiè).

But what about the last two: "Yes" and "no"? Ready to get your mind blown? Chinese does not have a direct equivalent for "yes" and "no". But then how do you say "yes" and "no" in Chinese?

We have already covered how to say "yes". So today, let's have a look at how you can say "no" in Chinese without actually saying "no".

The basics of saying "no" in Chinese: 不 and 没/沒

There are two words in Chinese that are often translated as "no" or "not":

不 (bù) and 没/沒 (méi)

However, neither of these two words is a direct translation of "no". Instead, they are used to negate verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech.

So when someone asks you a question, you usually can't just answer with "no" like you would in English. Instead, you express disagreement by negating the verb or adjective in the question. Let's break it down for different situations.

Say "no" by negating the adjective

When answering questions with adjectives, simply negate them using 不 (bù) before the adjective. Here are a few examples:

• Is it cold outside? - Not cold.

  外面冷吗/外面冷嗎？(wàimiàn lěng ma?) - 不冷 (bù lěng)

• Is the metro station far from here? - Not far.

  地铁站离这里远吗/地鐵站離這裡遠嗎？(dìtiě zhàn lí zhèlǐ yuǎn ma?) - 不远/不遠 (bù yuǎn)

• Is the food at that restaurant tasty? - Not tasty.

  那家餐厅好吃吗/那家餐廳好吃嗎？(nà jiā cāntīng hǎochī ma?) - 不好吃 (bù hǎochī)

Keep in mind that directly using 不 + adjective can come across as a strong disagreement. To soften your answer a bit, you can use 不太 (bù tài) before the adjective, which means "not very." So your answer would be 不太好吃 (not very tasty) instead of 不好吃 (not tasty).

Say "no" by negating the verb with 没/沒

While both 不 and 没/沒 are used to negate verbs, they are usually not interchangeable. 不 is used in more situations but sometimes you have to use 没/沒 instead. It's therefore important to know when 没/沒 should be used.

Special case: 有

Only 没/沒 can be used to negate the verb 有 (yǒu), which means "to have." So when someone asks if you have something, you should use 没有/沒有 (méiyǒu) to say that you don't have it.

• Do you have money? - Not have.

  你有钱吗/你有錢嗎？(nǐ yǒu qián ma?) - 没有/沒有 (méiyǒu)

• Do you have time? - Not have.

  你有时间吗/你有時間嗎？(nǐ yǒu shíjiān ma?) - 没有/沒有 (méiyǒu)

Past events or things that have not happened yet

When talking about past events 没/沒 and 没有/沒有 are used to negate verbs. If you want to emphasize that something has not happened yet, you can use 还没/還沒 (hái méi).

• Have you been to China before? - "Not went" or "still not went".

  你去过中国吗/你去過中國嗎？(nǐ qùguò zhōngguó ma?) - 没去过/沒去過 (méi qùguò) or 还没去过/還沒去過 (hái méi qùgùo)

• Did you call him? - Not have.

  你有打电话给他吗/你有打電話給他嗎？ (nǐ yǒu dǎ diànhuà gěi tā ma) - 没有/沒有 (méiyǒu)

• Have you finished your homework? - Still not finished

  你做完作业了吗/你做完作業了嗎？ (nǐ zuòwán zuòyè le ma?) - 还没做完/還沒做完 (hái méi zuòwán)

Say "no" by negating the verb with 不

In most other cases, 不 (bù) is your go-to for negating verbs. Here are some examples:

• Are you American? - Not am.

  你是美国人吗/你是美國人嗎？(nǐ shì měiguórén ma?) - 不是 (bù shì)

• Do you like coffee? - Not like.

  你喜欢咖啡吗/你喜歡咖啡嗎？(nǐ xǐhuan kāfēi ma?) - 不喜欢/不喜歡 (bù xǐhuan)

• Are you at home? - Not am.

  你在家吗/你在家嗎？(nǐ zài jiā ma?) - 不在 (bù zài)

Rejecting a request

There are a few specific expressions that you can use to reject someone's request:

• 不行 (bù xíng) - not okay / not possible

• 不可以 (bù kěyǐ) - not allowed

• 不要 (bù yào) - not want

For example, imagine someone wants to grab dinner with you:

我们去吃晚餐吧/我們去吃晚餐吧 (wǒmen qù chī wǎncān ba)

If you answer 不行 or 不可以, that probably means you don't have time because you already have other obligations. Answering 不要 simply means that you don't want to go with that person. This will definitely come across as very rude (especially in Asia, where communication is often not as direct as in Western countries). You should instead say something like 不好意思，我晚上有事 (bù hǎo yìsi, wǒ wǎnshàng yǒu shì) - "I'm sorry, I have plans tonight."

Final thoughts

Just like with tones, saying the most basic things in Chinese requires you to substantially rewire your brain. The earlier you can let go of the idea that anything you know about English can be transferred to Chinese, the earlier you will make progress.

So while saying "no" in Chinese might seem tricky, once you get used to the different expressions, it becomes much more intuitive. The good thing is that the above examples will already get you through at least 90% of situations you might encounter in daily life.

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