2 · The basic sentence
Don’t: bié and búyào
telling someone not to do something
Bié or búyào before a verb tells someone not to do something; with le at the end it tells them to stop.
At a glance
- Remember
- Bù says what is not so; bié tells someone not to; bié … le tells them to stop.
- Form
- 别走！don’t (spoken)
- Signal words
- 别
- 不要
- 别…了
- 请不要
- 千万别
- Trap
- Wrong:你不去！Right:你别去！
Your turn
9 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| don’t (spoken) | 别走！ |
| don’t (more deliberate) | 不要说话。 |
| please do not (notices) | 请不要拍照。 |
| stop doing it | 别哭了。 |
| whatever you do, don’t | 千万别忘了。 |
| no need to | 不用谢。 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Bié or búyào stands directly before the verb and tells someone not to do it.
别开窗户，外面很冷。Don’t open the window — it’s cold outside.
With le at the end, the sentence asks someone to stop what they are already doing.
别玩手机了，快吃饭。Put your phone away and eat.
Signs and polite requests use qǐng búyào.
请不要在这里停车。Please do not park here.
Qiānwàn before bié makes the warning urgent: whatever you do, don’t.
千万别告诉他。Whatever you do, don’t tell him.
Example sentences
别担心，我没事。Don’t worry, I’m fine.
你别走，我有话跟你说。Don’t go — there’s something I want to tell you.
别说了，我都知道。Stop — I know all about it.
上课的时候不要说话。Don’t talk during the lesson.
请不要摸展品。Please do not touch the exhibits.
孩子睡了，你们别太大声。The baby is asleep, so don’t be too loud.
7 more example sentences
别客气，随便坐。Make yourself at home — sit anywhere.
别生气了，他不是故意的。Don’t be angry any more — he didn’t mean it.
过马路的时候别看手机。Don’t look at your phone when you cross the road.
千万别把护照丢了。Whatever you do, don’t lose your passport.
你不要一个人去。Don’t go on your own.
别等我了，你们先吃吧。Don’t wait for me any longer — go ahead and eat.
请大家不要在车上吃东西。Please don’t eat on the bus, everyone.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English builds “don’t go” from “not”, so 不 looks like the obvious word. But 你不去 is a statement — “you aren’t going” — or, with the right voice, a surprised question. Telling someone not to do something takes 别 or 不要.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
An English command turns negative with “don’t”. Chinese has its own word for that, and it is not 不: it is 别, or the slightly longer 不要, directly before the verb. 别走, “don’t go”; 不要说话, “don’t talk”. The verb itself stays as it is, as every Chinese verb does.
别 is the everyday word, short and spoken. 不要 means the same and sounds a little more deliberate; it is what notices use, usually after 请: 请不要吸烟, “please do not smoke”. A subject may stand in front, and it is nearly always 你, 你们 or 咱们: 你别担心, “don’t you worry”.
Put 了 at the end, and the sentence is about something already happening: 别哭了 is “stop crying”, said to someone who is crying. 别哭 without it is “don’t cry” — a warning before it starts, or a general piece of advice. The same 了 that marks a change of situation elsewhere marks the change the speaker wants here.
English speakers give themselves away in two ways. They say 你不去 for “don’t go” — but that is a statement, “you aren’t going”. And they use 别 about themselves or about facts, where it cannot stand: “I didn’t go” is 我没去, never with 别. 别 tells someone what to do; it never reports anything.
A closer look
Two meanings of búyào
不要 is also simply 要, “want”, with 不 in front. 我不要 is “I don’t want it”, and 我不要这个 is “I don’t want this one”. Which meaning is meant depends on who is speaking to whom: about oneself, 不要 refuses; to someone else, before a verb, it forbids.
That is one reason 别 is so common in speech: it has only the one job, so it is never misread. The other reason is that it is shorter, and a warning shouted across a room wants one syllable, not two.
Softer and firmer
A bare 别 sentence is direct, and between friends that is fine. To soften it, a speaker adds 了 or 啊 at the end, or a reason after it: 别客气, “don’t stand on ceremony”, is one of the friendliest things a host can say. To make it firmer, the speaker puts 千万 or 可 in front.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
-
the speaker means “there is no need”, not “do not”
the word is 不用, not 别.
不用送了，我自己回去。No need to see me out — I’ll find my own way back.
别 forbids. 不用 only releases someone from doing something — the polite answer to thanks, or to an offer of help.
Worth knowing (1)
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Bié in a worried guess
In 别是… the word is not a command at all: it voices a fear, “I hope it isn’t …”, “surely not …”. It is common with 吧 at the end.
他还没到，别是迷路了吧？He still isn’t here — surely he hasn’t got lost?
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