Chinese word

不见

Pronunciation

Pinyinbù jiàn

Meaning

  • verbbe missing

Example

我的钱包不见了。wǒ de qián bāo bú jiàn le

My wallet is missing.

Illustration for 不见 (be missing)

More examples

昨晚整理书桌时发现重要文件不见了。zuó wǎn zhéng lǐ shū zhuō shí fā xiàn zhòng yào wén jiàn bú jiàn le

While tidying my desk last night, I discovered that an important document was missing.

Core concept

A thing drops out of view or can no longer be found, while its exact cause and duration remain unstated.

Common phrases

  • 钱包不见了qián bāo bú jiàn le

    Wallet is missing

  • 从视线中不见了cóng shì xiàn zhōng bú jiàn le

    disappear from view

  • 证据不见了zhèng jù bú jiàn le

    Evidence is missing

Similar words

丢diū: Lose something through misplacing it or letting it slip away.
丢失diū shī: Be lost or missing, including an object, record, or piece of information.
找不到zhǎo bú dào: Fail to find something after searching for it.
消失xiāo shī: Cease to be visible or present, as though gone from sight.

Definition in Chinese

指某物从原来位置消失或暂时看不见，强调状态的变化或结果。zhǐ mǒu wù cóng yuán lái wèi zhì xiāo shī huò zàn shí kàn bú jiàn qiáng diào zhuàng tài de biàn huà huò jié guǒ

Word origin

不见 (bùjiàn, "not be seen") is formed from 不 (bù, "not") before 见 (jiàn, "see"), so the word describes a thing through its lost visibility rather than its cause.

Usage tips

  • The expression stays neutral about what happened, so it can report a missing item without claiming that it was lost, stolen, or permanently gone.

Other meanings

  • disappearverb
  • be out of sightverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 不见得bú jiàn denot necessarilyadverb
  • 不见踪影bú jiàn zōng yǐngdisappear without a traceidiom

Word lists with this word