Chinese word

没有

Pronunciation

Pinyinméi yǒu

Meaning

  • verbnot have

Example

我没有钱。wǒ méi yǒu qián

I don't have any money.

Illustration for 没有 (not have)

More examples

教室里没有人。jiào shì lǐ méi yǒu rén

There is no one in the classroom.

Core concept

A gap in what is present: something is not there, not held, or does not happen.

Common phrases

  • 没有朋友méi yǒu péng yǒu

    have no friends

  • 没有人méi yǒu rén

    no one

Similar words

没méi: A brief spoken way to say that something is not present or not owned.
有yǒu: Shows that something is present, exists, or belongs to someone.

Definition in Chinese

表示某物或某种情况不存在或不在自己手中，也常用来表示过去没有发生某事。biǎo shì mǒu wù huò móu zhǒng qíng kuàng bù cún zài huò bú zài zì jǐ shǒu zhōng yě cháng yòng lái biǎo shì guò qù méi yǒu fā shēng mǒu shì

Word origin

The form 没有 (méiyǒu, "not have") joins 没 (méi, "not") and 有 (yǒu, "have or exist"), making absence the direct counterpart of having.

Usage tips

  • For an earlier action, 没有 (méiyǒu, "not have") comes before the action, so the English past meaning does not require a separate past word in the same position.

Other meanings

  • did notauxiliary verb
  • not existverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word