Example sentences
wǒ我bù不qù去。
I'm not going.
zhè这bù不shì是wǒ我de的。
This isn't mine.
The story behind the character
不
不 is the basic negator: put it in front of a verb or adjective and you have said no. 我不喝 I don't drink, 他不高 he isn't tall, 不客气 you're welcome. It covers the present, the future, and plain refusal. For the past, and for 有, Chinese switches to 没 (我没有钱). One sound rule: before a fourth tone, 不 is pronounced bú, as in 不是 bú shì.