One of the most common ways to say no in Chinese is 不.
The basic information of no in Chinese
No in Chinese: 不 No in pinyin: [bú] [bù] Tone: Second/Fourth Stroke Count: 4 Structure: Up to down Usage: ★★★★★
The glyph evolution of no in Chinese 不 [bú][bù]
how-to-write-no-in-Chinese
The glyph contrast of no in Chinese 不 [bú][bù]
different-ways-of-saying-no
The order of strokes of no in Chinese 不 [bú][bù]
chinese-symbol-for-no
Calligraphy of no in Chinese 不 [bú][bù]
how-to-spell-no-in-chinese
Other variations to say no in Chinese
不是 [bú shì] means “to not be”. One of the most used words to sayyes in Chinese is 是 [shì], “to be”. Therefore, adding 不, which means “not; no”, in front of是 [shì] is one way to say “no” in Chinese.
Tips: When the word behind 不 is the first/second/third tone, 不 is read [bù], for example:不行 [bù xíng] , and when the word behind 不 is the fourth tone, 不 is read [bú], for example:不是[bú shì].
how-do-you-say-no-in-Chinese
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
你是美国人吗?
nǐ shì měi guó rén ma?
Are you an American?
B:
不是。
bú shì。
No.
不对 [bú duì] means “incorrect” or 错 [cuò] means “false, wrong”
no-in-chinese
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
二加二等于三。
èr jiā èr děng yú sān。
Two and two is three.
B:
不对/错。
bú duì/ cuò。
No.
没有 [méi yǒu] means “ not have, no, none”
mandarin-word-for-no
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
你去过中国吗？
nǐ qù guò zhōng guò ma？
Have you been to China?
B:
没有。
méi yǒu。
No.
不会 [bú huì] means “will not, cannot”
no-in-mandarin-pinyin
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
你会游泳么？
nǐ huì yóu yǒng me？
Can you swim?
B:
不会。
bú huì。
No.
不可以 [bù kě yǐ] or 不能 [bù néng] or 不行 [bù xíng], means “cannot, may not”, usually used to deny a request or refuse to give permission.
no-in-mandarin
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
我可以在这里抽烟么？
wǒ kě yǐ zài zhè lǐ chōu yān me？
Can I smoke here?
B:
不可以/不能/不行。
bù kě yǐ/ bù néng/bù xíng。
No, you can’t.
不可能 [bù kě néng] – impossible
say-no-in-chinese
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
你可以一整天不喝水么？
nǐ kě yǐ yī zhěng tiān bù hē shuǐ me？
Can you not drink within a day?
B:
不可能。
bù kě néng。
No.
没门儿 [méi mén er] – no way, slang for impossible
what-is-no-in-chinese
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
我可以借更多的钱吗？
wǒ kě yǐ jiè gèng duō de qián ma？
Can I borrow some more money?
B:
没门儿。
méi mén er。
No.
No in Chinese in some other situations
Some other common ways to say “no” in Chinese is not a specific word at all. They just express disagreement by adding不 [bù] in front of the main verb/ adj. in the question asked, or use the 没[méi] + verb structure to respond negatively to questions. For example:
不喜欢 [bù xǐ huān] - “No (I don’t like).”
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
你喜欢小动物吗？
nǐ xǐ huān xiǎo dòng wù ma？
Do you like little animals?
B:
不喜欢。
bù xǐ huān。
No, I don’t like.
不要 [bú yào] - “No (I don’t want).”
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
你想要一个苹果么？
nǐ xiǎng yào yī gè píng guǒ me？
Do you want an apple?
B:
不要。
bú yào。
No, I don’t want.
不远 [bù yuǎn] - not far
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
你家离学校远吗？
nǐ jiā lí xué xiào yuǎn ma？
Is your home far away from the school?
B:
不远。
bù yuǎn。
No, not far.
不好 [bù hǎo], directly translated as “not good” or “not all right.” When someone is seeking approval, using 好不好 [hǎo bù hǎo] or 好吗 [hǎo ma] to ask if something is okay, you can reject it by saying 不好 [bù hǎo].
Other phrases or sentences to express no in Chinese
我想想吧 [wǒ xiǎng xiǎng ba] -An indirect way of saying no in Chinese, meaning “let me think about it.” It’s a polite way of rejecting someone’s request.
no-in-chinese-mandarin
我不太清楚 [wǒ bú tài qīng chǔ]- I’m not sure.
Speaker
Character
Pinyin
English
A:
你知道去超市的路么？
nǐ zhī dào qù chāo shì de lù me？
Do you know the way to the supermarket?
B:
我不太清楚。
wǒ bú tài qīng chǔ。
No, I’m not sure.
If you want to express "I don't have time today.", you can say 我今天有点事 [wŏ jīn tiān yŏu diăn shì] or 我今天没有空 [wŏ jīn tiān méi yŏu kòng] or 改天吧 [găi tiān ba] or 我们下一次再去吧 [wǒ men xià yī cì zài qù ba]
