NTI Buddhist Text Reader

不 bù

1. bù adverb not / no
   Domain: Function Words 虚词 , Concept: Negation 否定
   Notes: 不 is used for simple negation, as opposed to 没, which is used for existence. 不 is used before adjectives, adverbs, and verbs, except 有 (Li Shaoqi, 2003, p. 26; Ho, 2002, '不'; NCCED '不' 1). For example, 不知道是怎回事 '[He] did not he did not know how that was possible.' (Lao She, 2003, p. 207) This use is similar in both modern and literary Chinese (Pulleyblank 1995, p. 103). For example, in literary Chinese, 不可，直不百步耳，是亦走也。'They should not do so. Though they did not run a hundred paces, yet they also ran away.' (Meng 1.3/1/26, translation by Legge) The tone is changed to bú when 不 is followed by a syllable with fourth tone, in accordance with tone sandhi 变调. For example, 不去 bú qù 'will not go' (Sun 2006, loc. 545). 不 is the sixth most frequently used word in the Beijing Language Institute's 1985 frequency wordlist (Ho, 2002, '不').
2. bù adverb expresses that a certain condition cannot be acheived
   Domain: Function Words 虚词 , Concept: Negation 否定
   Notes: In this pattern 不 is used after a verb to form a complement (Li Shaoqi, 2003, p. 27; NCCED '不' 7) For example, 洗不掉 'could not be washed away.' (Lao She, 2003, p. 211).
3. bù adverb as a correlative
   Domain: Spoken Language 口语
   Notes: Used to form as a correlative with 就 in the pattern 不 ... 就 (NCCED '不' 9)...
4. bù adverb no (answering a question)
   Domain: Function Words 虚词
   Notes: 不 can be used independently to answer a preceding question (Li Shaoqi, 2003, p. 26; NCCED '不' 5).
5. bù adverb forms a negative adjective from a noun
   Domain: Function Words 虚词 , Concept: Negation 否定
   Notes: For example, 不运气 'unlucky' (NCCED '不' 4)
6. bù adverb at the end of a sentence to form a question
   Domain: Spoken Language 口语
   Notes: In this form 不 is used at the end of the sentence to turn it into a question (NCCED '不' 6).
7. bù adverb to form a yes or no question
   Domain: Spoken Language 口语
   Notes: In this form 不 is used to offer an alternative as part of a question (NCCED '不' 8). For example, 商量商量好不好？ 'Can we talk about it?' (Lao She, 2003, p. 216)
8. bù infix infix potential marker
   Domain: Function Words 虚词 , Concept: Negation 否定
   Notes: 不 is one of the two infixes in Chinese, the other being 得 'can'. For example, 看不见 'cannot see' (Sun 2006, loc. 728).

Contained in

不丹 、 意想不到 、 不但 、 不断 、 不到位 、 不仅 、 不同 、 不得 、 不可抗力 、 不顾 、 不了 、 不禁 、 不仅如此 、 不可逆转 、 不端 、 不暇 、 目不暇接 、 不满 、 不乏 、 不如 、 必不可少 、 不相上下 、 不住 、 不可思议 、 不过 、 源源不断 、 层出不穷 、 不动产 、 不见 、 不是 、 不敌 、 不可 、 不移 、 瞧不起 、 了不起 、 不及 、 不及物动词 、 不定 、 不错 、 不要 、 不用 、 不久 、 对不起 、 不必 、 不大 、 不得不 、 不得了 、 不敢当 、 不管 、 不好意思 、 不论

Usage

Sampled for common words