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过去三天为什么你不回我的电话？ Why did you not call me back in the past three days?

I have long been pondering about this sentence from the Duolingo repertoire. The explanation I have come up with is that "in the past three days" already implies that the action is in the past, and therefore the "call back" part can be expressed in the present, which means that 不 instead of 没 can be used to negate 回. In other words, the subclause "你不回我的电话？" is a present tense sentence. Could somebody please confirm if this is correct, or tell me the true reason for using 不 instead of 没?

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    他没回我电话=He hasn't responded to my calls. 他不回我电话=He isn't responding to my calls.
    – ericw31415
    Commented Jul 23 at 21:47
  • 我们都用多邻国学习中文！I recognize this sentence. You might also want to read the discussion linked from that exercise in the app.
    – Matthew Leingang
    Commented Jul 24 at 17:42
  • @Matthew Leingang I would have done that, but unfortunately Duolingo has removed the complete forum including all sentence discussions. The links do not exist any more, either.
    – Forgotmypassword
    Commented Jul 26 at 12:19
  • Oh, that's too bad.
    – Matthew Leingang
    Commented Jul 29 at 13:11

7 Answers 7

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Both 不回(did not return) and 没回(haven't returned) can be used in this sentence, but there is a subtle difference between the two

[不 + V ]= [do not + V] (implies refusing to act is a likely possibility)

[没 + V] = [without + V] (simply stating lack of action without implication of intention behind)

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This answer was generated by [ChatGPT]. And I checked the content. It's perfectly right.

In the sentence "过去三天为什么你不回我的电话?" (Why didn't you return my call in the past three days?), "不" (bù) is used instead of "没" (méi) for a specific reason related to the nuance of the negation.

  1. 不 (bù):
  • "不" is typically used to negate actions or states in a general, habitual, or future context. It conveys a sense of intentionality or decision.
  • In this sentence, "不" suggests that the speaker perceives the action (not returning the call) as a choice or a repeated behavior over the past three days.
  1. 没 (méi):
  • "没" is used to negate past actions, indicating that something did not happen at a specific time in the past.
  • If the sentence were "过去三天为什么你没回我的电话?" (Why didn't you return my call in the past three days?), it would focus on the fact that the action of returning the call simply did not occur without necessarily implying intentionality or repetition.

In summary, using "不" in "过去三天为什么你不回我的电话?" implies that the speaker is questioning a perceived pattern or decision of not returning the call over the past three days. Using "没" would make the sentence more neutral, merely stating that the action did not happen.

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    Quote: "不" is typically used to negate actions or states in a general, habitual" I disagree with this suggestion, ChatGPT seems to be confused 不(do not/ did not) with 從不(never) or 總不(always not), For example, 被告在庭上不否認與受害人相識 cannot be a habitual act
    – Tang Ho ♦
    Commented Jul 23 at 11:13
  • Quote: "没" is used to negate past actions" I disagree with it also. For example, 明天沒收到你的投票就當你棄權了 happens in the future
    – Tang Ho ♦
    Commented Jul 23 at 11:23
  • Tang Ho, could you please tell me which part of the sentence ""不" is typically used to negate actions or states in a general, habitual, or future context." you disagree with? I am asking because others also have explained that "不" negates habitual behavior. Or are there perhaps regional differences in how this is used?
    – Forgotmypassword
    Commented Jul 23 at 22:11
  • @TangHo (1) The phrasing is “in a general, habitual or future context”, not just “in a habitual context”. ‘General’ here refers to ‘general tense’, which includes most uses of present-like constructions. 从不 and 总不 are specifically not general context. (2) In 明天没收到你的投票就当你弃权了, 没 is indeed negating a past event: 收到 occurs before 当 or 弃权. The fact that both are future hypotheticals is not relevant – it’s the relative chronology of the two clauses that licenses 没.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jul 24 at 17:58
  • Quote:"没 is indeed negating a past event" I would say it negating a completed event Example: 找了半天到現在也沒找到 - you haven't found it as of now
    – Tang Ho ♦
    Commented Jul 24 at 18:00
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The 不 is used to negate habitual, ongoing behaviors. So the tone is more like

Why haven't you been replying to my phone calls for the last three days?

implying that this is not just a once-off, and the "ghosting" is expected to continue, rather than

Why didn't you reply to my phone call in the last three days?

which is more matter-of-fact: I gave you a call, and I didn't get a reply.

My favorite example of the 没/不 difference is:

你为什么不做作业？ (Why don't you do [your] homework?)
你为什么没做作业？ (Why didn't you do [your] homework?)

The first one is a much bigger problem.

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As a native Chinese speaker, the tone using 不 is much stronger than 没.

When using 不 is more about questioning the person itself and 没 is more likely to question about the 'thing' itself.

I more than agree with Becky's answer. There is a much difference in

你为什么不做作业？ (Why don't you do [your] homework?)
你为什么没做作业？ (Why didn't you do [your] homework?)

The first sentence is like you have a chance to do your homework. Why not to? The second one is like, you didn't finish your homework, what happened?

And if I am questioning my friend why he is not calling me back in pass few days, I would say 这几天为啥没回我电话. It is a casual tone overall.

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  • Most importantly when talking to a Asian guy is to read the air. The 'air' will tell you what he is thinking. (This is kind of joking and kind of true. lol)
    – Galo
    Commented Jul 23 at 6:33
  • 1
    This "air" is what we called "woman's intuition"?
    – Wayne Cheah
    Commented Jul 23 at 15:00
  • @WayneCheah Yeah. It's the overall vibe of the conversation
    – Galo
    Commented Jul 25 at 4:08
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在汉语里，常用“不”和“没”做否定词。许多人用英语的“时态”解释这俩个词汇的用法的不同。这是一种误解。

在否定一个动词时，“不”是一种主观上的选择，“没”是对客观事件的陈述。比如，

你明天去看电影吗？我不去。

你昨天去看电影了吗？我没去。

在很多情况下，过去的和已经发生的的事情就是“既成事实”，所以使用“没”。把这个现象认为是汉语的“时态”，是错误的和有害的。比如，

你明天去看电影吗？我明天没时间去。

“没时间”是叙述一个事实。不能因为是将来的时间，就说：“我明天不时间去”。这是错误的。再比如，

你明天去看电影吗？我不花时间去看电影。

“不花时间”是我的决定。再比如，

你们昨天搬家，不是我不帮你。是你没告诉我啊。

我不告诉你，是怕你身体不好，别累着你了。

“你没告诉我”是一个事实。“我不告诉你”是一个选择。尽管是过去的选择，仍然要用“不”。

“不”和“没”除了否定动词以外，还有许多其他用处。比如，“不是”，永远不能说“没是”。“身体不好”和“身体没好”是不同的意思。还有一个否定词“别”。“不告诉他”，“没告诉他”，“别告诉他”都是不同的意思。

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As a native Chinese, I think you got it wrong from the start. Unlike English, Chinese don't have tense, so you should not fit Chinese into English logic and give sentence tense, just accept the Chinese logic.

Also, i confirm that 不 and 没 is almost identical in the above sentence. So I think the true reason is one of it is just randomly selected by algorithm.

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    The two are not identical in this sentence. They mean different things, as shown in the other answers.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jul 24 at 18:00
  • Well, they do have subtle difference. But only subtle, so in daily usage no one care about it here in China, except Grammar Nazi.
    – Johnny C.
    Commented Jul 25 at 1:33
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"你不回我的电话？" is a present tense sentence.

Can not doing something be an action in the present? Is the act of not acting actually an action? When was this active non-action?

Interesting questions, which I would negate, because there are billions of things you and I are not doing right now.

你不回我的电话.
You didn't answer my call (I called, you had your phone on silent, as usual, and missed the call!)

过去三天为什么你不回我的电话？
past 3 days why you not answer I de phone calls
(For) the last 3 days why haven't you answered my phone calls?

You may use either, 不 or 没 in:

过去三天为什么你不/没回我的电话？

没有区别.
no difference

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    No, there is a difference. 没回 is a simple statement of fact: you didn’t call me back. 不回 is a statement of intention and deliberation: you deliberately didn’t call me back, you persisted in not calling me back.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jul 24 at 18:01
  • A bold statement, I like it! You can somehow demonstrate that to be true, or is that just your opinion?
    – Pedroski
    Commented Jul 24 at 21:45
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    First and foremost, it is of course my own instinctive feeling based on speaking Mandarin with Chinese people; but it’s also corroborated by the answers of several native speakers here, which all agree that 不 is somehow ‘stronger’ (with minor variations as to the exact nature of what that means – ‘choice’, ‘intention’, ‘not just a one-off’, etc.).
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jul 24 at 22:21
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    There's the Chinese Grammar Wiki, or the relevant parts of pages 43 and 44 from 邵敬敏's 《现代汉语通论（下册）》.
    – Becky 李蓓 ♦
    Commented Jul 25 at 4:30
  • If 1. and 2. are true, I still see no difference in "strength" betwixt : “不”and “没” 1.例如：我这次不去上海。“不”否定的是意愿。 E.g.: I this time not go Shanghai. "not" negates the wish or aspiration (to go) 2. 例如：我这次没去上海。“没”否定的是客观事实。 E.g.: I this time not go Shanghai. "not" negates the objective fact. 过去三天为什么你不回我的电话？ Why didn't you want to reply to my calls these last 3 days? 过去三天为什么你没回我的电话？ Why didn't you reply to my calls these last 3 days?
    – Pedroski
    Commented Jul 25 at 4:43

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