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Choosing Mnemonics

Pick the mnemonic story that sticks best for you by clicking its ☆ — there's no wrong choice, and you'll be able to write your own soon. Then press Continue.

= bu + Ø4
no; not so / (bound form) not; un-
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How to pronounce 不

MandarinBanana teaches pronunciation with the Marilyn Method: every Pinyin syllable is one initial plus one final, the initial becomes a person, an animal or a deity, and the final becomes a place in your memory palace — with the tone deciding which part of that place the scene happens in. Remember the little story below for each half and the whole syllable comes back with them.

= bu initial

Bu is for Bruno Bear.

By Matthias • updated 3 months ago
+ Ø4 final

In the space station’s bathroom.

By Matthias • updated about 2 months ago

不 character breakdown

Chinese characters are built out of smaller characters. Each component carries a mnemonic symbol - one concrete object that stands in for it - and a mnemonic story hands those objects to the person and the place that stand for the pronunciation. Learn a component once and every character that reuses it gets easier.

Component Translations
one of the characters used in kwukyel (phonetic "myeon"), an ancient Korean writing system
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= bu + Ø3
(bound form) to divine / to forecast or estimate / (of a place to live etc) to choose
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see 蘿蔔|萝卜[luo2 bo5]
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Characters with 不 as component

huài = hu + ai4
bad / spoiled / broken / to break down / (suffix) to the utmost
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bēi = b + ei1
cup / trophy cup / classifier for certain containers of liquids: glass, cup
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bēi = b + ei1
variant of 杯[bei1]
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Words with 不

show 3565 more
only / merely / no more than / but / however / anyway (to get back to a previous topic) / cannot be more (after adjectival)
don't! / must not
I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon / to let (sb) down; to disappoint

Sentences with 不

jiè
dào
jiàn
yòng
de
bīng
ne

Want to remember 不 for good?

Make it your learning target and MandarinBanana works out the shortest route to it: the two sounds its syllable is built from, then the components of the character itself, one short step at a time. No account needed to start.

no; not so / (bound form) not; un-

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Prompt snippets

The "forbidden" sign is a weather-beaten forbidden sign made of dark, aged wood, with a prominent, rough-hewn red diagonal slash over a black stylized hand. Below, "FORBIDDEN" is etched in archaic, jagged letters.