Meaning
(negative prefix for verbs); have not; not; drowned; to end; to die
Chinese: 没有；也可表示沉没。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “mei” becomes a different word in each tone. 没 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 没有méi yǒuhaven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have
- 没什么méi shén meit doesn't matter; it's nothing; never mind; think nothing of it
- 没关系méi guān xiit doesn't matter
- 没事儿méi shì rto have spare time; free from work; it's not important; it's nothing
- 没意思méi yì siboring; of no interest
Example Sentence
我今天没带伞。Wǒ jīn tiān méi dài sǎn.I did not bring an umbrella today.
我WǒI今天jīn tiāntoday没méinot带dàiband伞sǎnumbrella。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The water radical 氵 plus a hand element: to go under the water, to sink. It was borrowed to write the everyday ‘not have / without’ (méi).
A way to remember it
Sinking under water (氵) — now mostly ‘not have’.
Easy to confuse with
- 流‘To flow’: also a water character (氵), but with a different right side.