17
votes
Accepted
Why is 不 instead of 没 used to negate an action in the past in 过去三天为什么你不回我的电话?
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)
...
- 81.4k
8
votes
What does it mean to end a sentence in 没?
"你找到你爸爸了没"
It's short for "你找到你爸爸了没有?" or "你找到你爸爸了还是没有找到?". The complete sentence should be "do you find your father, or not?". "没" here is similar as "or not" in English.
BTW. The "你" before "爸爸" ...
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7
votes
Accepted
Why is 也 used for negation in 你也配?
也 means even
你也配? (even you are worthy?) is a rhetorical question, it is in fact, a statement for "你不配" (you are not worthy)
(the standard hasn't sunk so low that even people like you are ...
- 81.4k
7
votes
What is the origin of 没 as an alternative to 不?
This is a knottier question than it first appears. The answer is hard to summarise, but it seems to be related to the special status of 有 and 無 from the beginning of Chinese.
In the Old Chinese of ...
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7
votes
Why is 不 instead of 没 used to negate an action in the past in 过去三天为什么你不回我的电话?
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&...
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6
votes
Accepted
What does it mean to end a sentence in 没?
Yes, adding the 没 at the end makes it a question. In this case, it is equivalent to "你找到你爸爸了吗？"
Without the 没, it would be "You found your dad". With the 没 makes it "Have you found your dad?".
It's ...
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6
votes
Accepted
Why does 他没看书 use 没 and not 不 in this dialogue?
The opposite of "他没看书" (he did not/has not read books) is "他有看书" (he did/ has read books)- 没(has not) here replaces the adverb 有(has)- to indicate 'absent' of the action
The ...
- 81.4k
5
votes
Why is 不 instead of 没 used to negate an action in the past in 过去三天为什么你不回我的电话?
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 ...
- 17.1k
3
votes
Why two 不 in 不得不, when only one "not" in its English translations?
On the English side, please note that:
Negation is implied in the preposition "but":
have no choice or option but to,
cannot but,
can't help it (but)
Negation is implied in the verb avoid:...
3
votes
Why is 也 used for negation in 你也配?
a. 你不配。
b. 你也配？
c. 你也配！
All of the above express the same meaning: you are not qualified (for something or to do something). Of course sentence a. is the most straightforward option. I'd say ...
- 5,625
2
votes
Accepted
Nouns where the negative demands a different verb
我對明星一點興趣都不感
Your problem is not that verb itself, but the word order.
The correct order is: 我對明星一點 都不感興趣.
Hope this could help you.
- 24k
2
votes
Why does 他没看书 use 没 and not 不 in this dialogue?
That is really a good question. For English, it could use "not" in both two situations.
In my own opinion, you should get contextual analysis. A is asking David's activity, so the correct answer is 他没（...
- 21
2
votes
What is the origin of 没 as an alternative to 不?
Our moderator @songyuanyao has already provided a good link, here I make some additions:
没 is the opposite of 有, which implys the objective absence, while 不 is mere negation.
Is 不有 valid?
Yes! But ...
- 3,111
2
votes
What does it mean to end a sentence in 没?
This is typical Southern Chinese. 没 means 没有, and at the end of a sentence, short for 还是没有.
你找到你爸爸了没？
= 你找到了你爸爸还是没有？
= Have you found your dad, or not?
In Northern Chinese, it should be:
...
- 1,877
2
votes
What does it mean to end a sentence in 没?
I think it's actually 了没 that works together, instead of the single character 没. 了没 can be interpreted as Have ... yet?. It works in the structure "verb + 了没". For example, 你吃了没(Have you eat yet?)，...
- 24k
2
votes
Accepted
How does this 不像 work?
Tl;dr: because of the inferential nature of the construction 不像⋯⋯有, the phrase that expresses the idea of unlikeness is essential to understanding.
A syntactically loyal (but less idiomatic in ...
- 5,625
2
votes
How does this 不像 work?
門口不像日本有隔出玄關範圍的高低差
Some object is omitted
(這)[門口] [不像日本(的門口)(那樣)] [有] [隔出玄關範圍的][高低差]
(This)[door], [unlike Japan('s doors) (which)] [have] [that separate the entrance area ][height difference]
This ...
- 81.4k
2
votes
Why is 也 used for negation in 你也配?
The dialogue would make better understanding if a question mark is included, as, 你也配？, which actually questions someone's "qualification or worthiness" rather than affirming it.
Saying, 你也配？ ...
- 4,332
2
votes
How do you ask "Will you see your child next Sunday" in Chinese using verb not verb structure?
the second has two verb. 會見and 不見(or maybe the sentence just ignore the conjunction.this is not formal)。
Here is correct grammar
你下个星期天见不见你的孩子
just take 会 away and the sentence will be perfect and ...
- 437
2
votes
Why is 也 used for negation in 你也配?
In here, 也 means "too", or "also".
For example - 那些人都是英雄. (你算老幾,) 你也配!? "All those people are heroes. Who the hell you are that thinking of yourself qualifies as one too!?&...
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2
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How does 十分/不十分 work？
According to my book New practical Chinese HSK5 what I understood.
十分不满 or 十分不满意=fully not satisfied
Not satisfied at all
In the other hand
不十分满意=not fully satisfied
2
votes
Accepted
Why two 不 in 不得不, when only one "not" in its English translations?
"have to" contains no negator particles! All other translations have merely 1 negator, either "no" or "not"! Thus why does Chinese have 2 negators in 不得不?
"不得不"...
- 81.4k
2
votes
How can I parse 才一直追不上地球的运转?
IMO, the translation by "deepl" got it right. on here, "才" connects two phrases, with the leading phrase being the cause/reason, and the latter being the effect/explanation.
But ...
- 15.2k
2
votes
Accepted
Confusion over 得，唔得 + verb
買 = buy
買[得] = [can] buy (allowed to buy)
[唔]買[得] = [can't] buy (not allowed to buy)
[冇得]買 = [not available] to buy
冇買得 is ungrammatical
食 = eat
食[得] = [can] eat (allowed to eat)
[唔]食[得] = [can't] ...
- 81.4k
2
votes
Why is 不 instead of 没 used to negate an action in the past in 过去三天为什么你不回我的电话?
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 ...
- 21
2
votes
Why is 不 instead of 没 used to negate an action in the past in 过去三天为什么你不回我的电话?
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？...
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1
vote
Why two 不 in 不得不, when only one "not" in its English translations?
You can split 不得不 to 不得 and 不.
不得 means "no choice", "must not".
So 不得不 means "only one choice", "must".
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1
vote
translating different negations ( 没，无，非，未.) in a single sentence
"朴世堂沒有說, 無用於（于?）日常之說（法）非古之道，
Pu ShiTang didn't say, a theory, which is useless in daily life, is not the way of old,
也未說因此而不需要它，
(he) also never said, "Thus we don't need it",
但是他指出，
...
- 19.4k
1
vote
Accepted
translating different negations ( 没，无，非，未.) in a single sentence
朴世堂 沒有說(didn't say)無用(not useful)於日常之說非(is not)古之道，也未說(also didn't say)因此(because of that)而不需要(not needing)它，但是他指出，程子之說未能(has not)明示性的本質.
- 15.2k
1
vote
What is the origin of 没 as an alternative to 不?
没 denotes the sense of non-existence, while 不 is a general negation. The other way to think of it is that 没 is the short version of 没有. In other words, you can replace 没 with 没有 when 没 precedes a verb....
- 24k
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