Writing
不得不 (bù dé bù) — how to say "to have to" in Chinese
不得不
To have to, to be forced to
adverb
Character composition
不
not
得
must, should
不
not
Radicals / Keys
彳
Step
#60 · chì · 3 strokes
一
One
#1 · yī · 1 stroke
Synonyms
Collocations
不得不放弃
bù dé bù fàngqì
have to give up
不得不走
bù dé bù zǒu
have to leave
Examples
因为下大雨，我们不得不改变出发的时间。
Because of the heavy rain, we had to change the departure time.
我不得不去。
I have to go.
Frequently asked questions
How to say have to in Chinese?
"to have to" in Chinese is 不得不 (bù dé bù).
What does 不得不 mean in English?
不得不 (bù dé bù) means "To have to, to be forced to".
How is 不得不 pronounced?
It is pronounced bù dé bù (written as bu de bu, budebu). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.
How do you write "to have to" in Chinese characters?
It is written 不得不: 不 has 4 strokes, 得 has 11 strokes, 不 has 4 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.
What HSK level is 不得不?
不得不 belongs to the HSK 4 vocabulary list.
Tomyo
Learn Chinese words with spaced repetition
Add 不得不 to your vocabulary and remember it with smart reviews, audio and examples.