不 (Bù)
不 (Bù) very simply can be translated as "no", but also works as "not", "non"' and "un" at the same time. It is, for all intents and purposes, the negator of the language. See it in action right here.| 不 (Bù) : The Basics |
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| 不 bù |
| Negates most words in Chinese, can be translated as "no", "not", "non", or "un-" among others. |
| 他不是我的男朋友 tā búshì wǒ de nánpéngyǒu |
| He is not my boyfriend |
| 我不会弹钢琴 wǒ bú huì tán gāngqín |
| I can't play piano |
| 这个答案不对 zhèige dá'àn bú duì |
| This answer isn't right |
| 这他的说法有点不清楚 tā de shuōfǎ yǒu yīdiǎr bù qīngchǔ |
| The way he said things was a bit unclear (not-clear). |
得 (Dé) or 得 (Dĕi)
得 (Dé)is actually a bit involved, but has some basic rules. We'll show you them all, but for right now, know that there are two common meanings: "to get", and "to be able"1) It can be pronounced as (dei) to mean "to have to" or "must".
| 得 (Dĕi) : The Basics | |
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| 得 dĕi | |
| to have to do something, must | |
| 你得去医院 nǐ dĕi qù yīyuàn | |
| You must go to the hospital | |
2) Pronounced as (Dé) or sometimes with the neutral tone. When used with other characters, like 觉 (jué), it helps give an idea like "to get".
| 得 (Dé) or (De): Gives an idea like "to get" | |
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| 得 dé or de | |
| Expresses an idea like "to get" in combination with certain characters | |
| 我觉得 wǒ juéde | |
| I get the feeling that, I think that, What I get from it is | |
| 他获得一个奖品 tā huòdé yígè jiǎngpǐn | |
| He received a prize | |
| 我们的计划取得了成功 wǒmen de jìhuà qǔdé le chénggōng | |
| Our plan was met with success/ Our plan was successful | |
4) It can also be pronounced as "de" to mean "complete", but we will cover this idea in later lessons.
了 (Le or Liao)
Ninety-five percent of the time you see it, 了 is pronounced (le). It is a character which trasnlates an idea better than a word. The easiest way to think of it is the "-ed" suffix on English verbs. It indicates that something has either changed or a past action has been completed. We will introduce the basics here, but you will see and learn more about this guy all along your Chinese studies. Here are some examples when it acts like "-ed".| 了 (Le): Idea of change, can be liked English "-ed" |
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| 了 le |
| Indicates change, typically with a past action like "-ed" in English. |
| 我搬家了 wǒ bānjiā le |
| I moved (to a new home/city) |
| 我饿死了 wǒ è sǐ le |
| I am (now) starving to death! (Whereas before you were not) |
| 我听说周太太怀孕了 wǒ tīngshuō Zhōu tàitài huáiyùn le< |
| I heard that Mrs. Zhou is pregnant (has become pregnant) |
So what's the deal with saying liao instead of le? It goes back to the inside joke we were talking about earlier.
The Inside Joke Between 不 (Bù) and His Friends 得 (Dé) and 了 (Le)
Now, what is special about these three characters is that you can think of them as "high school buddies". More specifically, think of them as three guys who share lots of inside jokes together that only "they" would get. Think of 不 (Bù) as their "ringmaster", because the other two, 得 (Dé) and 了 (Le), will always show up with 不 (Bù), but not essentially with each other. Whenever you see 不 (Bù) in combination with 得 (Dé) or 了 (Le) (i.e. next to each other in writing), they will take on a "secret" meaning, that normally they wouldn't have if they weren't right next to their buddy.
When 不 (Bù) teams up with 得 (Dé), the 得 (Dé) will typically take its third basic meaning of "can". Now, if you're smart, you may have already figured out that together, they mean "unable". Now, you won't hear this all the time to express the idea of "unable", which is more typically expressed with ideas like 不可以 (bù kěyǐ) or 不会 (bú huì).
| Expressing the idea of "unable" |
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| 不得 bù de |
| Formal way to express idea of "unable to", especially in commericial uses. |
| 不可以 bù kěyǐ |
| More common way to express idea of "unable to", closer to the idea of having permission (versus having the right skill) |
| 不会 bú huì |
| More common way to express "not able to" or "not possible", closer to the idea of not having an ability (versus having permission) |
| 不能 bú néng |
| More common way to express "can't right now", the idea being that normally, someone can do something, but for right now, because of some situation or obstacle, can't. |
But what sets these two guys ,不 (Bù) and 得 (Dé), apart is that they often tag along with an "old high school buddy", which are a certain set of verbs you will learn to recognize over time. In fact, 不得 (bù dé) is almost restrained to this set of expressions, so you will much more likely hear 不可以 (bù kěyǐ),不会 (bú huì), or 不能 (bú néng) in most common speech. Having seen this distinction, let's look at some special cases where you will see this "inside joke".
| 不得 (búde): Some of the "inside jokes" |
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| 恨不得 hèn búde |
| to wish you can do something, itching to do something, dying to do something (Lit. hate (that) not able (to) |
| 我恨不得去长城 wǒ hèn búde qù Chángchéng |
| I wish I could go to the great wall, I'm dying to go to the Great Wall |
| 舍不得 shě bùde |
| to hate to see leave, to not want to part with (Lit. to give up not able)/td> |
| 我舍不得你们 wǒ shě bùde nǐmen |
| I hate to see you all go/ I don't want you all to go |
| 巴不得 bā bude |
| to be eager to. This one is also a bit of a stretch. 巴 (Ba) is a character that doesn't have one set meaning but rather changes depending on its context, In this one, it means something like "to stick". So, think of the expression like "so eager that I can't "stick" or "sit" in one place |
| 我巴不得放暑假了 wǒ bā bude fàng shǔjià le |
| I can't wait at all for school to let out for the summer! |
Now, when 不 (Bù) teams up with 了 (Le), they have another secret. First of all, its typical pronunciation of le will be morphed to liao. Second of all, when it uses its liao "nickname" (i.e. pronunciation), it has an added meaning of "able", for them together to mean unable, just like with 不得 (bùde). In some ways, you could think of 了 (liăo) is being a bit more permanent.
不得 (Bùde) might be used in a situation that can change in an hour, whereas 了 (liăo) will be a slightly more permanent situation, which means you could also use the idea of "without end" as well in some contexts. Again, this is not always the case, but is one way to approach this. And just like with 得 (Dé), 不 (Bù) and 了 (Liăo) typically team up with a third "high school buddy" (i.e. character) to take on a new meaning, and once again, it's not typically seen with every single character, just some of them that you will come to recognize.
| 不了 (bù liǎo): A couple of the "inside jokes" |
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| 不了 bù liǎo |
| Formal way to express idea of "unable to" or "without end" |
| 受不了 shòu bùliǎo |
| to be unable to stand, unable to bear |
| 我受不了你了 wǒ shòu buliǎo nǐ le |
| I can't stand you anymore! You're getting on my last nerve! |
| 忘不了 wàng bùliǎo |
| to never forget, be unable to forget |
| 我忘不了我们的婚礼 wǒ wàng bùliǎo wǒmen de hūnlǐ |
| I'll never forget our wedding ceremony |
These high school buddies are a few of many characters that can take on different meanings and pronunciations depending on where they are. Don't worry too much, we'll show you some of the others, and you'll learn even more along the way!
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