Bu and mei

Usage of 没

Negation of 有 only with 没

• 我 没 有 自己 的 笔记本。 "I don't have my own notebook."Wǒ méiyǒu zìjǐ de bǐjìběn.

• 我 不有 自己 的 笔记本。Wǒ bù yǒu zìjǐ de bǐjìběn.

Exception

他没有名 ＝ 他不有名 － not famous. The second is considered also correct, but it is not common.

It is not exception in full effect, because 有名 is an adjective, and not ver + object, as it is in the first example.

Past / Present

我没买水果 - I didn't buy fruits.

我不买水果 - I don't (will not) buy fruits.

• 我 没 买 水果。 "I didn't buy fruits."Wǒ méi mǎi shuǐguǒ.
• 我 不买 水果。Wǒ bù mǎi shuǐguǒ.

Exceptions - complicated structures

There are some exceptions when we talk about past, but we can not use 没.

For example, when there is a modal verb.

这部电影我一直没看完，因为昨天不想看，今天也不想看

When the action didnt actualy happen in the past

我昨天不开电脑因为它坏了 - I didn’t start my computer yesterdy, because it broke. (I didn't want to)

我昨天没开电脑因为它坏了。－ I didn't start my computer yesterdy, because it broke. (I didn’t do it)

Words about feelings

对 － 我不爱你 （present)

对 － 我没爱过你 (past)

不对 － 我没爱你

"Love" is usualy accompanied only with 不，when it is accompanied with 没，we have to add 过 - the meaning is "I have never loved you"

Same with "喜欢“

对 － 我不喜欢你 （present)

对 － 我没喜欢过你 (past)

不对 － 我没喜欢你

Never experienced（过）

对 － 我还没去过美国 - I have never been to USA.

对 － 我还没去美国。- I still didn't go to USA (I am planning to go and I may have been there before)

错 － 我还不去过美国。

Have not finished（完)

对 － 我还没有做完。

错 － 我还不做完

Future perfect

对 － 后天早上6点我还没起床 - After tomorow at 6 am i will not have got up yet.

错 － 后天早上6点我还不起床

对 － 你明天来吧！你来的时候我还没有出门 - Come tomorow! When will not leave until you come.

错 － 你明天来吧！你来的时候我还不有出门

Comparison

他没有她好 － he is not as good as she is

他不如她好 - he is not as good as she is

(如can not be accompanied with 没）

Complemets

对 － 我看不到那么远的地方。- I can't not see such a far away place.

错 － 我看没到那么远的地方

对 － 我听不到他们再说什么，他们离这里太远。I can not hear what they are talking, they are too far.

错 － 我听没到他们再说什么，他们离这里太远。

对 － 他什么都看不见。He doesn't see anything.

错 － 他什么都看没见。

对 － 他什么都听不见。He doesn't hear anything.

错 － 他什么都听没见。

对 － 我吃不下。 - I can not eat anymore.

错 － 我吃没下。

对 － 我进不去。- I can not enter.

错 － 我进没去。

However when it refers to past, we can use 没，but with a different structure.

对 － 我没有看到他们。I didnt see them.

错 － 我看没到他们。

对 － 我从来没有听到过那么脏的话。I have never heard such a vulgar words.

错 － 我从来有听没到过那么脏的话。

对 － 我昨天没看见你。I didn't see you yesterday.

错 － 昨天看没见你。

对 － 我昨天上课的时候没听见老师说了什么。Yesterday during the class I didn't hear what was teacher saying.

错 － 我昨天上课的时候听没见老师说了什么。

Words only with 没

没关系，没事，没意思，没兴趣，

In Chinese they all represent "Not to have"，however when it is translated to english it is a different meaning.

For. ex.: 没意思 - it means "boring" however in chinese it is something like "it doesnt have meaning"

Usage of 不

Some adjectives can be created only with 不

不容易，不高兴，不好

对 － 这个题目真不容易 - This issue is really not easy.

错 － 这个题目真没容易

Some adverbs can be created only with 不

不一定，不常常，不总是

对 － 我不一定能过去 - It is not sure that I will be able to come.

错 － 我没定能过去。

Modal verbs can not be accompanied with 没， only with 不

不要，不会，不可以，不是

对 － 我不想去那边。 I don't want to go there.

错 － 我没想去那边。

Exceptions:

没能 － we know the reasult of the event for sure

不能 － we do not know how did it end up, but at the time it was not possible

对 － 他昨天没能过来。 - He couldn't come yesterday. (and he really didn't come) 对 － 他昨天不能过来。- He couldn't come yesterday. (but he may have come in the end)

(没能 － shorter form of 没能够 (meaning of the expresson with 2 characters is not that strong as it is in the oroginal sentence)

没要 － 我爸爸给我钱，我没要。(my dad gave me money but i didnt want them)

不要 － 我爸爸给我钱，我不要。(my dad gave me money but i dont want them)

Sentence with 了

了and 没 can never be in one sentence together

对 － 我没去 - I dind't go.

对 － 我不去了 - I don't want to go anymore.

错 － 我没去了

Negation of modal verbs: Modern mandarin chinese grammar - 73