ralphmat123 Posted June 10, 2014 at 10:09 PM Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 at 10:09 PM Hi there. I saw the word wei 未 used in a sentence to say "have not" The sentence: 我还未吃饭 “I still haven't eaten". I thought mei 没 was "not have" in the past. So what's the difference between mei 没 and wei 未 ? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiMaKe Posted June 11, 2014 at 12:40 AM Report Share Posted June 11, 2014 at 12:40 AM "未 is only used in rather formal, written styles. In everyday Chinese, 没（有）is used instead." (Tuttle) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofmann Posted June 11, 2014 at 12:48 AM Report Share Posted June 11, 2014 at 12:48 AM 未 implies "yet." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamille Posted June 11, 2014 at 04:06 AM Report Share Posted June 11, 2014 at 04:06 AM 还未 is a bit halfway between formal and common Chinese. You could also see things such as 尚未 in which is totally formal or 還沒 (还沒) which is totally casual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted June 11, 2014 at 07:09 AM Report Share Posted June 11, 2014 at 07:09 AM The word 未 can be quite romantic, as in 夜未央、未央歌 …… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Chen Posted June 11, 2014 at 07:33 AM Report Share Posted June 11, 2014 at 07:33 AM We use "沒" in everyday conversation. "未" is used in formal or academic style. Thus, you probably see this word in prose or poem. For example, "尚未" is more formal than "還沒", though their meaning is the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted June 11, 2014 at 08:05 AM Report Share Posted June 11, 2014 at 08:05 AM Re #6, the reverse is true in Cantonese. In Cantonese, 未 is used in everyday conversation and 沒 is, well, not used for this sense. It is used for its other meaning as in 隱沒/ 沉沒, and in writing in standard Chinese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphmat123 Posted June 14, 2014 at 08:18 PM Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 at 08:18 PM I actually saw this in a podcast by the website "ChineseClass101" which isn't formal at all. So it's strange they would have used what is apparently a formal word... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooironic Posted June 14, 2014 at 11:47 PM Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 at 11:47 PM I think it would be a mistake to teach beginning students the word 未 instead of 沒. The latter is essential vocab for conversation, while the former is something you can learn much later on when you want to improve your formal reading skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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