How to say "no" in Chinese

不 (bù) means 'not', and 是 (shì) means 'to be'. Together they mean 'is not' or 'am not', and are used to negate statements.

Use 不是 to say something is not the case, like 'I am not a student' (我不是学生, wǒ bú shì xuéshēng). It's also used to answer 'yes/no' questions negatively. For general negation of verbs, use 不 (bù) before the verb, e.g., 不去 (bú qù, 'not go').