不
不 (bù) means “not”. It is made of 一 and has 4 strokes, and is an HSK 1 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
Break 不 into its parts
What 不 is made of
- 一 — horizontal stroke
Origin hint: A bird flying toward the sky 一 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
不 stroke order
Example sentences
我不喝茶。Wǒ bù hē chá.I don't drink tea.
你不去吗？Nǐ bù qù ma?Aren't you going?
Words with 不
- 不大bùdànot very
- 不对bùduìwrong
- 不客气bùkèqiyou are welcome
- 不用bùyòngno need
- 对不起duìbuqǐsorry
- 是不是shìbushìis it or not
- 不错bùcuònot bad
- 不但bùdànnot only (... but also ...)
- 不够bùgòunot enough
- 不过bùguòbut
- 不太bùtàinot very
- 不要bùyàodon't
- 不好意思bùhǎoyìsisorry
- 不久bùjiǔsoon
- 不满bùmǎndissatisfied
- 不如bùrúnot as good as
- 不少bùshǎomany
- 不同bùtóngdifferent
- 不行bùxíngnot OK
- 不一定bùyīdìngnot necessarily
- 不一会儿bùyīhuìrbefore long
- 差不多chàbuduōalmost
- 不必bùbìneed not
- 不断bùduàncontinuously
- 不论bùlùnno matter
- 不安bù'ānuneasy
- 不得不bùdébùto have to
- 不光bùguāngnot only
- 不仅bùjǐnnot only
- 能不能néng bu néngcan or not
- 不要紧bùyàojǐnit doesn't matter
- 不在乎bùzàihunot to care
- 不管bùguǎnno matter
- 不然bùránotherwise
- 看不起kànbuqǐto look down on
- 来不及láibujítoo late
- 离不开líbukāican't do without
- 了不起liǎobuqǐamazing
- 受不了shòubùliǎocan't stand
- 说不定shuōbudìngmaybe
- 不但而且bùdàn…érqiěnot only … but also …
- 不得了bùdéliǎoextremely
- 不见得bùjiàndenot necessarily
- 不耐烦bùnàifánimpatient
- 不足bùzúinsufficient
- 怪不得guàibudeno wonder
- 忍不住rěnbuzhùcan't help (doing)
- 舍不得shěbudeto hate to part with
- 要不yàobùotherwise
- 爱不释手àibùshìshǒuto love something too much to put it down
- 巴不得bābudeto be eager to
- 不得已bùdéyǐto have no choice
- 不妨bùfángmight as well
- 不敢当bùgǎndāngyou flatter me
- 不顾bùgùregardless of
- 不禁bùjīncan't help (doing)
- 不堪bùkānunbearable
- 不可思议bùkěsīyìunbelievable
- 不愧bùkuìto be worthy of
- 不料bùliàounexpectedly
- 不免bùmiǎnunavoidably
- 不时bùshífrom time to time
- 不惜bùxīnot to spare
- 不相上下bùxiāngshàngxiàabout the same
- 不像话bùxiànghuàoutrageous
- 不屑一顾bùxièyīgùto think something not worth a glance
- 不言而喻bùyán'éryùit goes without saying
- 不由得bùyóudecan't help (doing)
- 不择手段bùzéshǒuduànby any means necessary
- 不止bùzhǐmore than
- 层出不穷céngchūbùqióngto emerge one after another
- 川流不息chuānliúbùxīnever-ending flow (of people, traffic)
- 大不了dàbuliǎoat worst
- 得不偿失débùchángshīthe gains don't make up for the losses
- 供不应求gōngbùyìngqiúdemand exceeds supply
- 恨不得hènbudeto be itching to
- 刻不容缓kèbùrónghuǎnextremely urgent
- 络绎不绝luòyìbùjuéin an endless stream
- 迫不及待pòbùjídàitoo impatient to wait
- 锲而不舍qiè'érbùshěto persevere
- 滔滔不绝tāotāobùjuéto talk on and on
- 微不足道wēibùzúdàoinsignificant
- 无微不至wúwēibùzhìmeticulously
- 一丝不苟yīsībùgǒumeticulous
- 有条不紊yǒutiáobùwěnorderly
- 不见bújiànto not see
- 不便búbiàninconvenient
Also built with 一
- 七qīseven
- 万wànten thousand
- 丈zhànggentleman
- 三sānthree
- 上shàngon
- 下xiàdown
- 与yǔand
- 专zhuānconcentrated
- 且qiěmoreover
- 丘qiūmound
- 丙bǐngthird
- 业yèbusiness
Quick facts
| Pinyin | bù |
|---|---|
| Meaning | not |
| Strokes | 4 |
| Radical | 一 (one, #1) |
| Pattern | Top–bottom |
| HSK | HSK 1 (exam 2025) · HSK 1 (2021) · Old HSK 1 |
Questions about 不
What does 不 mean?
不 (bù) means “not”.
How many strokes does 不 have?
不 has 4 strokes.
What is the radical of 不?
The radical of 不 is 一 (yī, “one”), Kangxi radical number 1.
What parts make up 不?
不 is made of 一 (horizontal stroke).
Which HSK level is 不?
不 is in HSK 1 (exam 2025) and HSK 1 (2021) and Old HSK 1.
Learn 不 with its group
It is part of HSK 1 (2021) · Group 4: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.