Negation with 不

不 (bù) is the most common negation word in Chinese. Place it directly before the verb or adjective you want to negate. "我喝咖啡" (I drink coffee) becomes "我不喝咖啡" (I don't drink coffee). The sentence structure stays the same — you simply insert 不 before the verb.

不 is used for habitual actions, present states, willingness, and future intent. "我不吃肉" means "I don't eat meat" (habitual). "我不去" means "I'm not going / I won't go" (intent or refusal). "他不高" means "He's not tall" (present state). Think of 不 as negating things that are ongoing, general, or about the future.

There is one critical rule: 不 can never be used with 有 (to have / there is). The negation of 有 is always 没有 (méiyǒu), never 不有. This is absolute — there are no exceptions. Additionally, when talking about completed past actions, Chinese uses 没 rather than 不. "I didn't go yesterday" is "我昨天没去" (not 我昨天不去, which would mean "I refuse to go yesterday" and sounds unnatural).

Note on tone: 不 is normally fourth tone (bù), but when followed by another fourth-tone syllable it changes to second tone (bú). For example, 不是 is pronounced "bú shì," not "bù shì."