不要

Character by character

• 不bù4 strokesHSK 1no, not; un-; negative prefix
• 要yào9 strokesHSK 1necessary, essential; necessity

Each character links to its stroke order page with a tracing and a writing exercise.

Example sentences

• 我不要。

  Wǒ bù yào

  I don't want to.

  Listen

• 不要动。

  Bù yào dòng

  Don't move.

  Listen

• 不！我不要。

  Bù wǒ bù yào

  No! I don't need that.

  Listen

Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR), contributed by their community.

Words with the same characters

These words share at least one character with 不要. Reading them together is how the character starts to stick — the same characters in a different context.

• 不bùHSK 1

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

• 要yàoHSK 1

  to want; to need; to ask for; will; shall; about to; need to; should; if (same as 是); (bound form) important

• 需要xū yàoHSK 3

  to need; to want; to demand; to require; needs

• 不过bù guòHSK 2

  only; merely; no more than; but; however; anyway (to get back to a previous topic); cannot be more (after adjectival)

• 重要zhòng yàoHSK 1

  important; significant; major

• 不错bù cuòHSK 2

  correct; right; not bad; pretty good

• 要求yāo qiúHSK 2

  to request; to require; requirement; to stake a claim; to ask; to demand

• 只要zhǐ yàoHSK 2

  if only; so long as

• 不同bù tóngHSK 2

  different; distinct; not the same; not alike

• 不管bù guǎnHSK 4

  not to be concerned; regardless of; no matter

• 不再bù zàiHSK 6

  no more; no longer

• 不用bù yòngHSK 1

  need not

• 主要zhǔ yàoHSK 2

  main; principal; major; primary

• 不少bù shǎoHSK 2

  many; a lot; not few

• 就要jiù yàoHSK 2

  will; shall; to be going to

• 必要bì yàoHSK 3

  necessary; essential; indispensable; required

• 不断bù duànHSK 3

  unceasing; uninterrupted; continuous; constant

• 要是yào shiHSK 3

  (coll.) if

• 不够bù gòuHSK 2

  not enough; insufficient; inadequate

• 不行bù xíngHSK 2

  won't do; be out of the question; be no good; not work; not be capable

• 不仅bù jǐnHSK 3

  not just; not limited to; (as a correlative conjunction) not only (..., but also ...)

• 不知bù zhīHSK 7

  not to know; unaware; unknowingly; fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc)

• 对不起duì bu qǐHSK 1

  I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint

• 不得不bù dé bùHSK 3

  have no choice or option but to; cannot but; have to; can't help it; can't avoid