不 (bù) vs 没 (méi): Negation in Chinese
不/没
不 and 没 both mean "not", but split by type and time. 不 negates habits, preferences, states, and future plans (我不喝咖啡). 没(有) negates a completed action — something that did not happen (我没吃饭). The rules to lock in: states take 不, and 没 never pairs with 了.
Published July 8, 2026
Reviewed July 8, 2026
01 / PATTERN
See the Structure
MODEL
不: habit/future, 没: completed
Read the structure
不 and 没 both mean "not", but split by type and time. 不 negates habits, preferences, states, and future plans (我不喝咖啡). 没(有) negates a completed action — something that did not happen (我没吃饭). The rules to lock in: states take 不, and 没 never pairs with 了. Keep the model 不: habit/future, 没: completed visible while you compare each sentence.
我不喝咖啡。
I don't drink coffee.
Choose the right context
不 for habits, likes, states, and future: 我不喝咖啡 / 我明天不去。 没(有) for a completed action that didn't happen: 我没看那个电影。 没(有) for "not yet" or experience: 我还没吃饭 / 我没去过日本。
我明天不去。
I'm not going tomorrow.
Respect the boundary
不 for a completed action — that is 没: 我昨天没去, not 我昨天不去 for "didn't go". 没 with a like or state — those take 不: 我不喜欢, never 我没喜欢。 没 together with 了 — 没 already marks incompletion, so 了 drops: 我没吃饭, not 我没吃了饭。
我没喜欢中文。
(I don't like Chinese.)
Repair the pattern
没 used to negate a like or state: Likes, preferences, and states are negated with 不, never 没. 没 only negates a completed action, and 喜欢 is a state, not an event that finishes. 没 combined with 了: 没 already says the action did not complete, so a completion 了 contradicts it and must drop. 没 and 了 never appear together on the same verb.
我不喜欢中文。
Use the repaired structure without changing the intended meaning.
02 / MAP
Read the Sentence
Read from left to right and notice the job performed by each part. The labels describe this example; they are not a rule that every Chinese sentence must copy.
我不喝咖啡。
I don't drink coffee.
我不
不: habit/future, 没: completed
This part occupies the 不: habit/future, 没: completed position in the model pattern.
喝
不: habit/future, 没: completed
This part occupies the 不: habit/future, 没: completed position in the model pattern.
咖啡
不: habit/future, 没: completed
This part occupies the 不: habit/future, 没: completed position in the model pattern.
03 / EXAMPLES
Examples You Can Reuse
Keep the structure stable while changing the people, objects, times, or conditions. Pinyin is shown as reading support; use the Chinese sentence and translation to confirm the grammar relationship.
我不喝咖啡。
I don't drink coffee.
我明天不去。
I'm not going tomorrow.
我没吃饭。
I haven't eaten.
我没看那个电影。
I didn't see that movie.
我还没去过日本。
I haven't been to Japan yet.
04 / LIMITS
When to Use It — and When Not To
Use it when
- 不 for habits, likes, states, and future: 我不喝咖啡 / 我明天不去。
- 没(有) for a completed action that didn't happen: 我没看那个电影。
- 没(有) for "not yet" or experience: 我还没吃饭 / 我没去过日本。
Do not use it when
- 不 for a completed action — that is 没: 我昨天没去, not 我昨天不去 for "didn't go".
- 没 with a like or state — those take 不: 我不喜欢, never 我没喜欢。
- 没 together with 了 — 没 already marks incompletion, so 了 drops: 我没吃饭, not 我没吃了饭。
05 / REPAIR
Compare Right and Wrong
Compare the smallest meaningful change. Each explanation identifies a placement, scope, form, or clause relationship instead of treating the whole sentence as one undifferentiated mistake.
我没喜欢中文。
我不喜欢中文。
没 used to negate a like or state
Likes, preferences, and states are negated with 不, never 没. 没 only negates a completed action, and 喜欢 is a state, not an event that finishes.
我没吃了饭。
我没吃饭。
没 combined with 了
没 already says the action did not complete, so a completion 了 contradicts it and must drop. 没 and 了 never appear together on the same verb.
我没喜欢中文。
Likes and states take 不: 我不喜欢中文。
我没吃了饭。
没 and 了 don't combine; drop 了: 我没吃饭。
我明天没去。
Future plans take 不, not 没: 我明天不去。
06 / PRACTICE
Practice the Grammar Point
Complete three short tasks in order: judge the pattern, repair a common error, and build the sentence. Feedback is fixed and reviewed, so these activities do not use a checker allowance.
1. Judge the sentence
2. Choose the correction
3. Build the sentence
Build a complete sentence with 不/没.
07 / APPLY
Apply It in Your Sentence
Write one original sentence with 不/没. Your draft moves to the checker through this browser session, selects this grammar point as the first review focus, and waits for you to submit.
08 / QUESTIONS
不 (bù) vs 没 (méi): Negation Questions
What is the difference between 不 and 没?
不 negates habits, states, likes, and the future (我不喝酒 / 我明天不来). 没(有) negates a completed action that didn't happen (我没来). Roughly: 不 for general or future, 没 for "didn't".
Can I use 没 for the future?
No. Future plans take 不: 我明天不去. 没 only says something hasn't happened yet or didn't happen: 我还没去。
Why is 我没吃了饭 wrong?
没 already marks the action as not completed, so the completion 了 contradicts it. Use just 没: 我没吃饭。
09 / SOURCES
Sources and Review Notes
These references support different parts of the lesson. GF0025-2021 supports level placement only; professional grammar works support the explanation, limits, examples, and cross-checks. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement.
Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide, 3rd ed.
Ross, Ma, Chen, He and Yeh · Routledge · 2024
Locator: Construction index and function chapters relevant to 不/没
Supports the learner-facing account of where 不/没 appears and what communicative job it performs.
Official sourceChinese: A Comprehensive Grammar, 2nd ed.
Yip and Rimmington · Routledge · 2016
Locator: Relevant sentence and clause chapters for 不/没
Cross-checks the 不: habit/future, 没: completed pattern, clause relationship, and limits represented by the reviewed examples.
Official sourceChinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education (GF0025-2021)
Ministry of Education and State Language Commission · Ministry of Education of the PRC · 2021
Locator: Appendix A, Level 1 grammar inventory
Supports directory placement at HSK 1; it does not independently prove usage rules.
Official source10 / CONTINUE
Continue with a Connected Rule
Continue learning
没A没BThe Four-character Construction 没A没B
Extend basic 没 selection into a repeated literal or lexicalized four-character construction.
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呢The Particle 呢 (ne)
Use negation correctly inside questions that end with 呢.
Easy to confuse
不怎么不怎么 for a Low Degree or Low Frequency
Extend categorical negation to the softened low-degree adverbial 不怎么.
Compare
要X有/没X，要Y有/没Y要X有/没X，要Y有/没Y for Enumerating Qualities
Apply 没 to absent qualities inside the repeated negative evaluation frame.
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Use negation correctly inside questions that end with 呢.