Learn about Chinese negation
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: How do I say "no" in Chinese? |
| Dehua: And how do I make negative sentences? |
| Michael: At ChineseClass101.com, we hear these questions often. In this scenario, Sasha Lee, a highschool student, has just returned home. Upon seeing her, her mother asks, "Have you eaten?" |
| 李 凯伦: 你吃了吗？ (Nǐ chīle ma?) |
| Dialogue |
| 李 凯伦: 你吃了吗？ (Nǐ chīle ma?) |
| 李 萨莎: 不，我什么都没吃。 (Bù, wǒ shénme dōu méi chī.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| 李 凯伦: 你吃了吗？ (Nǐ chīle ma?) |
| Michael: "Have you eaten?" |
| 李 萨莎: 不，我什么都没吃。 (Bù, wǒ shénme dōu méi chī.) |
| Michael: "No, I didn't eat anything." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, we will be focusing on how to say "no" in Chinese and how to make negative sentences. In English, the word "no" is extremely versatile and can be used in a multitude of contexts, but the same is not true of Chinese. Most people who are learning Chinese know the word "no" to be translated as: |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 不 (bù) [SLOWLY] 不 (bù) |
| [PAUSE 3 SECONDS] |
| Michael: And this is not surprising, seeing as it is the word that you will find in the dictionary when looking for a translation of the English word "no." They had to put something there after all, but the truth is that, in Chinese, there is no word for "no" that is quite as ubiquitous as the English "no." Chinese negations are very contextual and depend on the situation. Trying to explain how to say no in Chinese can become quite a lengthy process, but we will stick to a few common situations in which one might answer "no." |
| Let's look at some of the ways we can combine the word we have already discussed with other words in order to create a negating expression. The word we already know is: |
| Dehua: 不 (bù) |
| Michael: To be precise, the meaning of this word is more like "not" than "no." It is often added to a verb to negate that verb. Consider how, in English, when we add "not" to the verb "do," it makes the contraction "don't" or the negative expression "do not." We can do something similar with this Chinese word. Let's start by listening to that most basic of verbs "to be": |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 是 (shì) [SLOWLY] 是 (shì) |
| [PAUSE 3 SECONDS] |
| Michael: Combined with the dictionary word for "no," the result is this: |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 不是 (bú shì) [SLOWLY] 不是 (bú shì) |
| [PAUSE 3 SECONDS] |
| Michael: One can use this negation to respond to yes/no questions. Imagine someone asking, "Is this pork?" |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 这是猪肉吗？(Zhè shì zhūròu ma?) [SLOWLY] 这是猪肉吗？ (Zhè shì zhūròu ma?) |
| [PAUSE 4 SECONDS] |
| Michael: Did you hear the "to be" word? Now, let's hear the negative answer, "No, this is not pork." |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 不是，这不是猪肉。 (Búshì, zhè búshì zhūròu.) [SLOWLY] 不是，这不是猪肉。 (Búshì, zhè búshì zhūròu.) |
| [PAUSE 4 SECONDS] |
| Michael: So, that's a good expression to know when you want to respond to yes or no questions. But what if you want to tell someone that what they are saying is incorrect? One would have to be polite, of course! To tell someone that what they are saying is incorrect, you would use the same base word for "no" and then add the word meaning "wrong" or "false." The result would sound like this: |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 不对 (bú duì) [SLOWLY] 不对 (bú duì) |
| [PAUSE 3 SECONDS] |
| Michael: Let's imagine someone saying, "The earth is flat." |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 地球是平的。(Dìqiú shì píng de.) [SLOWLY] 地球是平的。(Dìqiú shì píng de.) |
| [PAUSE 4 SECONDS] |
| Michael: And let's imagine you responding with, "No, wrong. The earth is round." |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 不对 。地球是圆的。(Bú duì. Dìqiú shì yuán de.) [SLOWLY] 不对 。地球是圆的。 (Bú duì. Dìqiú shì yuán de.) |
| [PAUSE 4 SECONDS] |
| Michael: So now we know how to tell someone they are wrong, but we are not perfect either—sometimes we find we don't have the ability to do something. How does one express this? Well, you already know how to say "not" in Chinese, so simply add it to the Chinese verb expressing ability, which is: |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 会 (huì) [SLOWLY] 会 (huì) |
| [PAUSE 3 SECONDS] |
| Michael: The result is: |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 不会 (bú huì) [SLOWLY] 不会 (bú huì) |
| [PAUSE 3 SECONDS] |
| Michael: Not so tough, right? Now, let's ask someone if they can speak German: |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 你会说德语吗？ (Nǐ huì shuō Déyǔ ma?) [SLOWLY] 你会说德语吗 (Nǐ huì shuō Déyǔ ma?) |
| [PAUSE 4 SECONDS] |
| Michael: And they say that they can't: |
| Dehua: 不会 (bú huì) |
| Michael: Also pretty easy. Let's do one last one. If you want to refuse permission or deny a request in Chinese, all you need to do is say: |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 不可以 (bù kě yǐ) [SLOWLY] 不可以 (bù kě yǐ) |
| [PAUSE 3 SECONDS] |
| Michael: or you can say: |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 不能 (bù néng) [SLOWLY] 不能 (bù néng) |
| [PAUSE 3 SECONDS] |
| Michael: These two negations can often be used interchangeably. Let's imagine someone asking you: "Can you help me?" |
| Dehua: [NORMAL] 你能不能帮我？(Nǐ néng bu néng bāng wǒ?) [SLOWLY] 你能不能帮我 (Nǐ néng bu néng bāng wǒ?) |
| [PAUSE 4 SECONDS] |
| Michael: To which you may need to reply, "Sorry, I can't help you." |
| Dehua: 对不起，我不能帮你。 (Duìbùqǐ, wǒ bùnéng bāng nǐ.) |
| Michael: Again, that is not such a tough one. And now that we have covered some of the basics, it's time to look at the dialogue again. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review the sentences we've heard in this lesson. I'll say the sentence in English, and then I want you to try and reply in Chinese. Dehua will then model the correct answer—listen to her carefully and repeat, with emphasis on your pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how to ask, "Have you eaten?" |
| [BEEP. PAUSE 5 SECONDS.] |
| Dehua: 你吃了吗？ (Nǐ chīle ma?) |
| Michael: Did you get it right? Listen again and repeat. |
| Dehua: 你吃了吗？ (Nǐ chīle ma?) |
| [BEEP. PAUSE 5 SECONDS.] |
| Dehua: 你吃了吗？ (Nǐ chīle ma?) |
| Michael: Now for our next sentence. Do you remember how to say "No, I didn't eat anything?" |
| [BEEP. PAUSE 5 SECONDS.] |
| Dehua: 不，我什么都没吃。 (Bù, wǒ shénme dōu méi chī.) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Dehua: 不，我什么都没吃。 (Bù, wǒ shénme dōu méi chī.) |
| [BEEP. PAUSE 5 SECONDS.] |
| Dehua: 不，我什么都没吃。 (Bù, wǒ shénme dōu méi chī.) |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion (Optional) |
| Michael: Another useful negation word we see in the dialogue is... |
| Dehua: 没 (méi) |
| Michael: This word is used when you talk about things that you did not do, or things that you do not have. Let's see a few examples. |
| Dehua: 我今天没去上班。(Wǒ jīntiān méi qù shàngbān.) |
| Michael: This sentence means "I did not go to work today." The part "did not go" is... |
| Dehua: 没去 (méi qù) |
| Michael: Just use the negation before the verb to tell that you didn't do or haven't done something. Let's see another example: |
| Dehua: 我没有钥匙。(Wǒ méiyǒu yàoshi.) |
| Michael: This sentence means "I don't have the key." The part "don't have" is... |
| Dehua: 没有 (méiyǒu). |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Dehua: 再见！ (zàijiàn!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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