Clarification of bu4 or mei2you

[Wang7]

Need a little help sorting out when to use bu4 or mei2you when making a negative connotation. Thanks.

[Meng Lelan]

I am sure others will have more help for you on the way, but for starters, if you want to say you have something, you can say

有

And if you don't have something you can say

沒有 but you can't say 不有

[Danny2312]

.....

[roddy]

How are you studying? That's something pretty basic that any textbook or course should cover.

[cd6883]

from Baidu Wenku:

Bù (不) and méi (没) are both negative words. I listed several situations to help you use them properly. But remember, there are always overlaps and exceptions.

1. For expressing "don't have" and "there isn't or there aren't", you must use "méi yǒu" or "méi ". You can not use "bù". "méi "is the shorter term for "méi yǒu", usually you can replace each other.

For example:

wo mei you shi jian. 我没有时间。

wo mei you qian. 我没有钱。

wo mei kong. 我没空.

Ying guo mei you da xiong mao. 英国没有大熊猫 (giant panda)。

2. "bu" is usually used to describe the change of the state of something, but "mei" is usually to describe a negative fact.

For example:

che bu zou le 车不走了。

(The car was going before, but now it is not going any longer.)

Che mei zou. 车没走。

(The car is there. It hasn't gone yet.）

Tian bu xia yu le. 天不下雨了。

(It was raining before, but now it is not raining any longer.)

Tian mei xia yu. 天没下雨。

(It hasn't rained. It didn't rain.)

3. When you describe somthing that hasn't taken place, you can use "méi yǒu".

For example:

Ta mei you lai. 他没有来。

Wo mei you chi fan. 我没有吃饭。

Wo mei you shou dao ta de dian zi you jian. 我没有收到他的电子邮件。

4. When you describe something has taken place and the change of state which is a negative one, such as disappeared, you use "méi".

For example:

Pi jiu mei you le. 啤酒没有了。

(in this context, we usually use "le" in the end of the sentence.)

5. When it is a personal decision and willingness, you use "bù".

For example:

Ta bu lai le. 他不来了。

(It means he has decided not to come.)

Ta mei lai. 他没来。

(It just describes the fact that he didn't come.)

Wo bu chi fan. 我不吃饭。

(It means I don't want to eat.)

Wo bu xi huan mei guo pi jiu. 我不喜欢美国啤酒。

6. When you give a negative judgement to the state, attribute or manner of a certain thing or a fact, you use "bù".

For example:

wo jue de mei guo de pi jiu bu hao. 我觉得美国的啤酒不好。

Ta xie de zi bu hao. 他写的字不好。

[aifeluna]

bu4 means no, usually as a reject starter, and mei2you3 actually have 3 different use in daily life.

1) similar meaning with bu4, ="no", always be the first word of a sentence.

2) as a verb. means "dont have". I dont have this book.

3) + another verb. in this way, mei2you3/mei2 present negative "not, dont". for example, I dont go to school. it's a general talking. but plz notice, if you want to use "bu4" here instand of mei2you3, it usually means "I dont wanna go." it's tough, but try to figure out the tiny difference.

so what I'm trying to say here, when mei2you3 shows up, first of all, find location, then find whether there is another verb.

[Wang7]

Thanks to all. Sometimes I just forget bunches of information (hanzi, pinyin, tones, grammar rules, etc.) and I just simply forget the basic stuff. Drives me nuts, even though I am still a beginner! Has that happened to anyone who has answer my call for clarification? Thanks again, and if anyone can recommend a good grammar book, I'd appreciate it..

[jbradfor]

You might want to read this thread.

[Nakura]

我没有读过这本书：i haven't read this book

我不去学校：i don't go to school.

我没有书：i don't have book.

你去过美国吗？没有。 Have you ever been to US? No.

你作业做完了吗？没有。Have you finished your homework?No.

你想回家吗？不。Do you want to go home？No.

你喜欢她吗？不。Do you like her? No.

[shuhaier]

没

1 used with verb to show past tense

没去，没做，没吃，没动

It means till you express the movement, you haven't or didn't do the movement you add after 没

2. used with 有，that is 没有. used with verb is just like 1. used with noun means don't have

不

1 used with werb to show the current situation，you don't do something， similar to your present tense( sorry my English grammar is not so good.)

不去，不做，不吃，不动 means at the moment and a short moment after you say it. you don't want to do the action

2 used with 想/愿（or any other which means wishes），"不想“ used with nouns means you don't want that thing。used with verbs means you don't want to perform certain action

Am I helping you to clarified them?

[Hofmann]

BTW...it's denotation.