不

bù

Pinyin
bù
Pinyin (Plain)
bu
Tone
4
Strokes
4
Radical
一
Readings
bùbuTone: 4no; not so; (bound form) not; un-Order: 0Primary
Stroke Order Code
Speed
Stroke Order Data
["M 606 682 Q 630 694 746 694 Q 878 694 880 695 Q 880 696 882 697 Q 889 710 877 722 Q 804 782 746 759 Q 467 702 200 680 Q 193 681 188 680 Q 175 679 174 668 Q 173 655 192 642 Q 210 630 241 619 Q 251 615 270 624 Q 337 646 474 667 Q 504 673 560 677 L 606 682 Z", "M 560 677 Q 559 677 560 676 Q 561 649 550 612 Q 528 567 504 528 L 470 480 Q 463 473 457 464 Q 399 388 333 332 Q 269 274 111 165 Q 101 161 112 156 Q 157 156 322 262 Q 409 329 484 417 L 539 483 Q 635 609 644 615 Q 654 621 652 632 Q 651 644 639 658 Q 624 674 606 682 C 580 697 561 707 560 677 Z", "M 504 528 Q 489 550 466 559 Q 454 560 450 553 Q 444 544 470 480 L 484 417 Q 490 222 461 87 Q 448 38 485 -17 Q 486 -20 490 -23 Q 511 -41 523 -11 Q 539 35 539 86 Q 529 386 536 454 Q 540 472 539 483 C 539 486 523 505 504 528 Z", "M 632 397 Q 731 321 850 208 Q 868 189 884 184 Q 894 184 901 195 Q 913 210 897 255 Q 873 327 631 429 Q 621 435 620 421 Q 620 406 632 397 Z"]
Meaning
In modern Chinese, **不 (bù)** is an adverb that means **“not / no”** and is used to negate verbs and adjectives (e.g., *不要* “do not want,” *不好* “not good”). It can also appear in fixed expressions and compounds, but its core meaning remains negative.
Metadata
Locale: en
Cached At: 5/8/2026, 4:13:10 PM

Usage

The character **不 (bù)** is the most common way to say “not” in Mandarin Chinese. It’s an adverb that goes **before a verb or adjective** to negate it, much like adding “not” in English: 吃 → 不吃 (“eat” → “not eat”), 忙 → 不忙 (“busy” → “not busy”), 会 → 不会 (“can” → “cannot / don’t know how”). Learners meet it very early in phrases such as 我不要 (“I don’t want [it]”), 我不懂 (“I don’t understand”), and 他不是老师 (“He is not a teacher”). With the verb 是 (“to be”), **不是 (bú shì)** is the standard way to say “is not / am not / are not.” 不 is also heavily used in **fixed patterns and everyday constructions**. It appears in **yes/no questions with 吗** (你是不是中国人? “Are you Chinese or not?”), in **A-不-A patterns** to form simple questions (是不是? “Is it or not?”; 好不好? “Good or not good?”), and in **preference or comparison patterns** like 好不好, 对不对 (“right or not”), and 会不会 (“can or not”). Learners also see it in many high-frequency words and expressions formed with other characters, such as 不是…而是… (“not…, but rather…”), 为什么不…? (“Why not…?”), and words like 不用 (“no need / don’t need to”), 不要 (“don’t / don’t want”), or 不能 (“cannot / must not”).

Handwriting Notes

不 is visually quite simple but has a few quirks in handwriting. Overall, it looks like a short horizontal line at the top, then a longer horizontal “spine” in the middle with a small downward diagonal on the left, and a longer diagonal stroke descending to the right. In neat handwriting, the middle horizontal tends to be the visual “anchor”: a bit longer and heavier than the top line, giving the character a slightly “T-shaped” or cross-like feel with one leg kicking down to the right. The whole character is usually slightly wider than it is tall, and it leans very subtly to the right rather than being perfectly upright. In real handwritten forms, the angles and proportions can vary quite a bit. The top and middle horizontals might be closer together or more spread out; the left diagonal off the middle line can be almost a tiny tick or hook, or more clearly slanted; and the long right-slanting stroke can be relatively straight or slightly curved. In fast writing, the middle horizontal and the left-down tick sometimes blend smoothly, and the lower diagonal may be written with a strong forward sweep, making the character look more dynamic and less blocky than in print. Despite these variations, the combination of two horizontals and a prominent downward right-slanting stroke makes 不 distinctive, and AI handwriting recognition systems are trained to detect these key structural features so they can reliably recognize this character across different personal styles and writing speeds.

Description

不 is a common Chinese character meaning “not” or “no,” used to negate verbs and adjectives (e.g., 不要 “do not want,” 不好 “not good”). It is pronounced bù in Mandarin and usually appears before the word it negates.

Common Words

  • 不是bú shìto be not; is not; are not
  • 不要bú yàodo not; don’t want; must not
  • 不能bù néngcannot; must not; to be unable to
  • 不会bú huìcannot; to be unable to (do something); will not
  • 不行bù xíngnot okay; not allowed; won’t do
  • 不好bù hǎonot good; bad
  • 不够bú gòunot enough; insufficient
  • 不同bù tóngdifferent; not the same
  • 不用bú yòngno need; need not; don’t use
  • 不对bú duìincorrect; wrong; not right
  • 不想bù xiǎngdo not want to; do not feel like
  • 不知bù zhīdo not know
  • 不敢bù gǎndo not dare; to be afraid to
  • 不肯bù kěnto be unwilling; refuse to
  • 不用说bú yòng shuōneedless to say; of course
  • 不得bù démust not; may not; cannot
  • 不安bù ānuneasy; disturbed; anxious
  • 不满bù mǎndissatisfied; discontented
  • 不然bù ránotherwise; if not; not so
  • 不必bú bìneed not; not necessary
  • 不如bù rúnot as good as; inferior to; rather than
  • 不怕bú pànot afraid of; to fear not
  • 不平bù píngunfair; injustice; resentful
  • 不经bù jīngunexpectedly; unintentionally (in compounds like 不经意)
  • 不必说bú bì shuōneed not be mentioned; needless to say
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