Questions tagged [negation]
The negation tag has no usage guidance.
23
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How can I parse 才一直追不上地球的运转?
I've been trying to translate the 2nd following sentence.
怕我会把航线图弄反
才一直追不上地球的运转
The google translate shows the following sentence translating it.
It has been unable to keep up with the rotation of ...
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Confusion over 得，唔得 + verb
I am confused about how to construct (and understand) phrases that involve: 得 and its negative 唔得 with a verb.
Specifically, what is the difference between 唔得買，冇買得。
A corresponding confusion would be ...
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Why two 不 in 不得不, when only one "not" in its English translations?
MDBG and ZDIC translate 不得不 as
have no choice or option but to, cannot but, have to, can't help it, can't avoid
"Have to" contains no negator particles! All other translations have merely ...
user11787
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2
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translating different negations ( 没，无，非，未.) in a single sentence
I am a little bit at loss with the following sentence as it uses four different negations:
"朴世堂沒有說無用於日常之說非古之道，也未說因此而不需要它，但是他指出，程子之說未能明示性的本質".
I am not sure how to translate them into English ...
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Why is 也 used for negation in 你也配?
I haven't seen 也 used on its own for negation yet - is it a popular use? How does it work? Could you give more examples? 🙏
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How does this 不像 work?
I’m struggling to understand how to parse the first part of the following sentence.
門口不像日本有隔出玄關範圍的高低差，但是通常會有打開門之後無法接看到裡面的屏風或隔間。
It is talking about houses in Taiwan.
I understood the first part as ...
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How do you ask "Will you see your child next Sunday" in Chinese using verb not verb structure?
What will be the difference between 你下个星期天会不会见你的孩子 and 你下个星期天会见不见你的孩子 ?
I am learning these sentences on Duolingo :) and was given the meaning of 你下个星期天会不会见你的孩子 as "Will you see your child next ...
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Standard Chinese translation of "I'm not a bad person"
I'm trying to translate "I'm not a bad person" to standard Chinese. I am told the following:
There are also two ways to say "A isn't B". When B is a noun (things, people, places, etc.), use bú shì.
...
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What is the origin of 没 as an alternative to 不? [duplicate]
Why is the verb 有 negated by 没 instead of 不 ?
Is there some historical reason or was it just a strange accident ?
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What does it mean to end a sentence in 没?
In the following example:
你找到你爸爸了没
Does the 没 make it a question? And if so, how is it different from “你找不找到你爸爸了”
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Why does 他没看书 use 没 and not 不 in this dialogue?
I was reviewing some old Anki cards that I created from HSK Standard Course 1 by Jiang Liping and I came across this dialogue:
A: 喂你在做什么呢
B: 我在看书呢
A: 大卫也在看书吗
B: 他没看书。他在学做中国菜呢
A: Hello, what are you ...
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Nouns where the negative demands a different verb
We learned
我對什麼什麼很感興趣
But when I wrote
xx我對明星一點興趣都不感
It was corrected to
我對明星一點興趣都沒有
What are some other nouns that take a different verb in the negative?
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How to negate an adjective in the past? [duplicate]
How can I negate an adjective in the past?
For example:
这是红色的。It is red.
这不是红色的。It's not red.
How could I say 'It was not red'? I read somewhere that 没有 only negates action verbs. If that's true, ...
user15765
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2
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Where to put 不 when responding in negative
This question is related to the Verb + Result Complement discussed here, but I think it's different.
Here are my instructions*:
Change the following into interrogative sentences (a) with a potential ...
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What is the usage of 蔑 as a negation word in classical chinese?
I read someone mentioning 蔑 as a negation word in classical Chinese, but unfortunately without explaining how it works or an example sentence. So I looked it up in my dictionary and it only showed me ...
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How does 十分/不十分 work？
十分 is an adverb used just as 非常, but while 十分 can be negated (不十分), 非常 can't. (不非常 is unacceptable.)
That's the explanation given by my book, which also gives me these sentences as examples:
他不十分聪明。
...
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How can I negate time and when to place 在 before time?
I know we can negate place, manner, etc. by just placing a 不 before the verbs (prepositions) that introduce the clauses.
我不在中国工作。
他不坐车去工作。
But how can I negate time, since it doesn't have a verb/...
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How to exclude an ingredient when ordering food?
I know I can order food using phrases like 我(想)要／请给我一份...
But how would I exclude an ingredient, e.g. if I don't like garlic?
我要一份青椒肚片无大蒜。
我要一份青椒肚片不要大蒜。
我要一份青椒肚片没有大蒜。
Would any of those be ...
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When do we use 没(mei3) and 不(bu4) before verbs in sentences? [duplicate]
I have read some articles Chinese, my question is about above subject, because if I want to say:
我没喝 (it is wrong)
我不喝 (it is right)
are there list of verb can be followed by 没(mei3) and 不(bu4)?
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Why do you say 我没有错 instead of 我不错 to say "I'm not wrong"? When should I use 没有?
I'm trying to understand when 没有 should be used instead of 不 when negating a sentence.
Consider the example "I'm not wrong."
Why is it 没有错?
How can I know when to use 没有 when negating a sentence?
...
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Opposite of constructions using 得 (must / have to)
What is the correct way to form a sentence expressing the opposite of 得 (have to) as in "to not have to". I don't think 不得 is correct?!
*我不得工作
I am thinking something like...
我不需要工作 or
...
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Difference between 别 and 不
I know that a typical way to negate a verb is to stick 不 in front of it. But I learned some phrases that use 别 instead: 别担心, 别客气 and so on, all of them in short polite fixed phrases. I know that I ...
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Why is 有 (yǒu) the only verb that requires 没 while other verbs can use 不?
To negate something, we use 不 (bù) before the verb, such as in this short dialogue:
A: 你是老师吗？= Are you a teacher?
B: 不是。= I'm not.
However, the verb 有 (yǒu) is the only one that requires 没 (méi) ...
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