不是

Chinese

		not; no	be; yes; this
simp. and trad. (不是)		不	是

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): bùshì, bùshi

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ, ㄅㄨˋ ˙ㄕ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): бусы (busɨ, I-I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ si⁶
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): put-sǐ / put-sī

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùshì [Phonetic: búshì]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùshìh
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-shih⁴
    • Yale: bù-shr̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bushyh
    • Palladius: буши (buši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 不世 不是 不識／不识 不適／不适

      
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùshi
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ˙ㄕ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùshi̊h
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-shih⁵
    • Yale: bù-shr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bu.shy
    • Palladius: буши (buši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ ʂʐ̩¹/

Note: bùshi - (1) for the noun, standard Mainland pronunciation and variant Taiwan pronunciation (2) for the verb, variant pronunciation.

• • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: бусы (busɨ, I-I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pou²⁴ sz̩²⁴/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ si⁶
    • Yale: bāt sih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ si⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ xi⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ siː²²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: put-sǐ
    • Tâi-lô: put-sǐ
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /put̚⁵⁻²⁴ si²²/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: put-sī
    • Tâi-lô: put-sī
    • Phofsit Daibuun: putsi
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /put̚³²⁻⁵ si²²/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /put̚³²⁻⁴ si²²/
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /put̚³²⁻⁴ si³³/

Verb

不是

1. to not be

   這不是我的書。／这不是我的书。  ―  Zhè bùshì wǒ de shū.  ―  This is not my book.

   這不是我的書嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
   这不是我的书吗？ [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè bùshì wǒ de shū ma? [Pinyin]

   This is not my book? (e.g. when you are told that the book is not yours.)

   不是我不明白，我只是不想說。 [MSC, trad.]
   不是我不明白，我只是不想说。 [MSC, simp.]

   Bùshì wǒ bù míngbái, wǒ zhǐshì bù xiǎng shuō. [Pinyin]

   It's not that I don't know; it's just that I don't want to say it.

2. Used in interrogative sentences, to express a certain emotion. Equivalent to “... not ... ?”

   我不是說了別叫我弟弟嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
   我不是说了别叫我弟弟吗？ [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ bùshì shuō le bié jiào wǒ dìdi ma? [Pinyin]

   Didn't I already tell you not to call me "little bro"?

   看，那不是姚明嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
   看，那不是姚明吗？ [MSC, simp.]

   Kàn, nà bùshì Yáo Míng ma? [Pinyin]

   Look! Isn't that Yao Ming?

   這不是我的書嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
   这不是我的书吗？ [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè bùshì wǒ de shū ma? [Pinyin]

   Isn't this my book? (e.g. when you find other person holding your book)

   • 天哪，兀的不是我媳婦兒！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     天哪，兀的不是我媳妇儿！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Yuan Dynasty, Guan Hanqing, The Injustice to Dou E

     Tiān na, wùde bùshì wǒ xífùr! [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Usage notes

In sense 2, 不是 is usually weakened, pronounced with neutral tone, while in sense 1, 不是 is stressed.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 不是 (“to not be”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		非
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		不是, 否
Mandarin	Beijing	不是
	Taiwan	不是
	Jinan	不是
	Xi'an	不是
	Wuhan	不是
	Chengdu	不是
	Yangzhou	不是
	Hefei	不是
	Malaysia	不是
	Singapore	不是
Cantonese	Guangzhou	唔係
	Hong Kong	唔係
	Macau	唔係
	Taishan	唔係
	Yangjiang	無係
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	唔係
	Singapore (Guangfu)	唔係
Gan	Nanchang	不是
Hakka	Meixian	毋係
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	毋係
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	毋係
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	毋係
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	毋係
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	毋係
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	毋係
	Kuching (Hepo)	唔係
Jin	Taiyuan	不是
Northern Min	Jian'ou	伓是
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	伓是
	Matsu	伓是
Southern Min	Xiamen	毋是
	Quanzhou	毋是, 𱍤
	Zhangzhou	毋是
	Dongshan	毋是
	Taipei	毋是
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	毋是
	Kaohsiung	毋是
	Yilan	毋是
	Changhua (Lukang)	毋是
	Taichung	毋是
	Tainan	毋是
	Hsinchu	毋是
	Kinmen	毋是
	Penghu (Magong)	毋是
	Penang (Hokkien)	毋是
	Singapore (Hokkien)	毋是
	Manila (Hokkien)	毋是
	Chaozhou	唔是, 𱍤
	Shantou	唔是, 𱍤, 唔𱍤
	Shantou (Chaoyang)	唔是
	Jieyang	唔是, 𱍤
	Haifeng	唔是
	Singapore (Teochew)	唔是, 𱍤
	Leizhou	伓是
	Wenchang	無是
	Qionghai	無是
	Singapore (Hainanese)	無是
Puxian Min	Putian	伓是
	Xianyou	伓是
Wu	Shanghai	勿是
	Suzhou	勿是
	Hangzhou	不是
	Ningbo	勿是
	Wenzhou	否是
Xiang	Changsha	不是
	Shuangfeng	不是

Derived terms

• 不是……就是…… (bùshì...jiùshì...)
• 不是……而是…… (bùshì...érshì...)
• 不是嗎／不是吗 (bùshì ma)
• 不是東西／不是东西 (bùshì dōngxi)
• 不是玩兒的／不是玩儿的 (bùshì wánr de)
• 豈不是／岂不是 (qǐbùshì)

 

See also

• 是不是 (shìbùshì)

Noun

不是

1. fault; mistake; wrongdoing

   都是我的不是。  ―  Dōu shì wǒ de bùshì.  ―  It's all my fault.

   快去賠個不是。／快去赔个不是。  ―  Kuài qù péi ge bùshì.  ―  Quickly go and apologise.

Synonyms

• 不好
• 不韙／不韪 (bùwěi) (literary)
• 偏差 (piānchā)
• 問題／问题 (wèntí)
• 失誤／失误 (shīwù)
• 差失 (chāshī)
• 差池
• 差舛 (chāchuǎn) (literary)
• 差誤／差误 (chāwù)
• 差謬／差谬 (chāmiù) (literary)
• 差錯／差错 (chācuò)
• 疏失 (shūshī) (careless mistake)
• 紕繆／纰缪 (pīmiù) (literary)
• 訛／讹 (é) (literary, or in compounds)
• 誤差／误差 (wùchā) (especially in data)
• 誤謬／误谬 (wùmiù) (fallacy)
• 謬誤／谬误 (miùwù) (fallacy)
• 責任／责任 (zérèn)
• 過失／过失 (guòshī)
• 過錯／过错 (guòcuò)
• 錯／错
• 錯誤／错误 (cuòwù)

 

Derived terms

• 認不是／认不是 (rèn bùshi)
• 賠不是／赔不是 (péi bùshi)