You're at a café with a Chinese-speaking friend who offers you coffee. You want to say "I don't drink coffee" — and in Mandarin, that means putting 不 (bù) right before the verb. 不 is the basic negation word in Chinese: place it directly before any verb or adjective to make the sentence negative, with no extra helper words needed.
The structure is simple: Subject + 不 + Verb/Adjective. Take the key sentence from this lesson:
我不喝咖啡 (wǒ bù hē kā fēi) — "I don't drink coffee."
Here 不 sits between the subject 我 (wǒ) and the verb 喝 (hē), turning the whole sentence negative. The same rule applies to adjectives: 她不高 (tā bù gāo) means "She is not tall" — no word for "is" required.
This is a live conversation lesson — you talk out loud with AI teacher Mei Lin in real time, not by typing. Mei Lin corrects your grammar and pronunciation in the flow of conversation and adapts to your level. The lesson targets this one grammar pattern and takes roughly 10 minutes.
After completing it, you can say what you don't eat, don't drink, and don't like, and describe things as "not tall," "not cold," or "not good." You'll practice Basic Negation by responding to Mei Lin's questions about your preferences — declining drinks, describing people, and more.
This lesson is part of our HSK 1 lessons series. You can also try Saying Who You Are or Pointing Things Out next. To reinforce what you learn, print handwriting worksheets with the free Chinese worksheet generator. The first lesson is free to start — no credit card required to begin talking.
不 (bù) is the basic negation word in Mandarin. You place it directly before a verb or adjective to make a sentence negative, as in 我不喝咖啡 (wǒ bù hē kā fēi) — "I don't drink coffee." No extra helper words are needed.
In the Basic Negation pattern, 不 sits between the subject and the verb or adjective. The structure is Subject + 不 + Verb/Adjective. For example, 她不高 (tā bù gāo) means "She is not tall" — 不 comes after 她 and before 高.
You'll talk out loud with AI teacher Mei Lin about things you don't eat, don't drink, and don't like. Mei Lin corrects your grammar and pronunciation in real time as you use 不 to decline and describe, and the lesson takes about 10 minutes.
Yes — the first lesson can be tried free, with no credit card required to start. You'll be speaking out loud with Mei Lin right away, practicing 不 in live conversation rather than studying rules on paper.