Where 不 comes from
A bird flying toward the sky 一
How to write 不 (bù, “no”)
不 (bù), an HSK 1 character, means “no” and “not”. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. Dictionaries list it under the radical 一 (“one”). On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 不要 (“don't!”), 不客气 (“you're welcome”) and 对不起 (“I'm sorry”). Japanese reads it fu, “negative”, as a JLPT N4 kanji.
- Pinyin
- bù
- Strokes
- 4
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 一 (“one”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
- Dot ㇔centerdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 4 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| bù fourth tone | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- | — | 不要 不客气 不错 不好意思 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 1,595 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 不
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不 | bù | no; not so HSK 1 |
| 不要 | búyào | don't!; must not HSK 1 |
| 不客气 不客氣 | búkèqi | you're welcome; don't mention it HSK 1 |
| 对不起 對不起 | duìbuqǐ | I'm sorry; excuse me HSK 1 |
| 不错 不錯 | búcuò | correct; right HSK 2 |
| 不好意思 | bùhǎoyìsi | to feel embarrassed; to find it embarrassing HSK 2 |
| 不同 | bùtóng | different; distinct HSK 3 |
| 不见 不見 | bújiàn | not to see; not to meet HSK 3 |
| 不但 | búdàn | not only (... but also ...) HSK 3 |
| 不久 | bùjiǔ | not long (after); before too long HSK 3 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Contain it:
HSK 1, in list order: