Chinese word

不仅

Pronunciation

Pinyinbù jǐn

Meaning

  • adverbnot only

Example

不仅他会说中文，还会说日语。bù jǐn tā huì shuō zhōng wén hái huì shuō rì yǔ

Not only can he speak Chinese, but he can also speak Japanese.

Illustration for 不仅 (not only)

More examples

情况不仅如此，还比想象的更复杂。qíng kuàng bù jǐn rú cǐ hái bǐ xiǎng xiàng de gèng fù zá

The situation is not only that; it is even more complex than imagined.

Core concept

A sign that the first item is only part of a wider statement.

Common phrases

  • 不仅...而且...bù jǐn ér qiě

    not only ___ but also ___

  • 不仅也...bù jǐn yě

    not only ___ but also

  • 不仅如此bù jǐn rú cǐ

    not only that

Similar words

不但bú dàn: Stating one matter and then adding another, often with matching parts in a sentence.
不光bù guāng: Expanding a statement from one matter to include further matters in a conversational way.
不只是bù zhǐ shì: Showing that one person, thing, or situation is not the whole matter and that more is included.

Definition in Chinese

表示某事不止于某一范围或情况，还包括其他人、事或情况，常用于并列结构，常与“还、而且、也”等连用。biǎo shì mǒu shì bù zhǐ yú mǒu yí fàn wéi huò qíng kuàng hái bāo kuò qí tā rén shì huò qíng kuàng cháng yòng yú bìng liè jié gòu cháng yǔ hái ér qiě yě děng lián yòng

Word origin

The compound 不仅 (bùjǐn, "not only") joins the negating 不 (bù, "not") to the limiting word 仅 (jǐn, "only"), marking the first point as incomplete by itself.

Usage tips

  • For natural conversation, the two parts usually have similar grammatical shapes, such as two actions or two descriptions, rather than unrelated sentence pieces.

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word