Expressing "don't need to" with "buyong"

In Chinese, 要 (yào) has many meanings, one of which is "need to." However, when you want to express "don't need to", you actually use 不用 (bùyòng), not 不要 (bùyào).

Structure

Subj. + 不用 + [Verb Phrase]

Examples

• 不用 担心 。Bùyòng dānxīn.You don't need to worry.
• 不用 你 帮忙 。Bùyòng nǐ bāngmáng.You don't need to help.
• 今天 不用 加班 。Jīntiān bùyòng jiābān.We don't need to work overtime today.
• 这 件 事不用 跟 他 说 。Zhè jiàn shì bùyòng gēn tā shuō.You don't need to tell him about this.
• 告诉 他 明天 不用 来 了 。Gàosu tā míngtiān bùyòng lái le.Tell him that he doesn't need to come tomorrow.
• 大家 不用 给 我 买 礼物 。Dàjiā bùyòng gěi wǒ mǎi lǐwù.Guys, you don't need to buy me presents.
• 今天 人 少，不用 排队 。Jīntiān rén shǎo, bùyòng páiduì.There aren't many people today. We don't need to wait in line.
• 五岁 的 孩子 不用 买 票 。 Wǔ suì de háizi bùyòng mǎi piào.Five-year-olds don't need to buy tickets.
• 新 员工 不用 参加 这个 会议 。Xīn yuángōng bùyòng cānjiā zhège huìyì.New employees don't need to attend this meeting.
• 我们 只 去 两 天， 你 不用 带 这么 多 衣服 。Wǒmen zhǐ qù liǎng tiān, nǐ bùyòng dài zhème duō yīfu.We are only going for two days. You don't need to take this much clothing.

Colloquial Saying

In spoken Chinese, the rhetorical question, "这还用说(吗)?", indicates the speaker believes that the statement is obvious. It is equivalent to the speaker saying, "is that seriously a question?" or "do you really need to ask?" Often "这还用说(吗)?" is said in an impatient tone of voice.

See Also

• Negative commands with "bie"
• Auxiliary verb "yao" and its multiple meanings
• Negative commands with "bu yao"