Maybe it’s 没不？

To be or not to be? To 是 or 不是， or is it to 有 or 没有？ 不有？

As part of my efforts to learn Mandarin, I’m going to explain 不 (bu) and 没 (méi).

有 - yǒu - to have or to exist.

Essentially, 有 means “to have” or “to exist,” while 没有 means “to not have” or “to not exist.” The character 没 negates 有, making it the negative form.

For example:

• 我有一个哥哥 - “I have an older brother.”
• 我没有哥哥 – “I do not have an older brother.”

有 can also express existence:

• 我的代码有错误 - “My code has an error”
• 我的代码没有错误 - “My code has no errors (This phrase is purely theoretical as all code I write has errors in it.)

It’s interesting here as 有 is translated in English as “have” as before but it expresses the existence of errors.

没 is often compared to 不, another word for “not.” The difference lies in their usage:

• 不 negates habits or general truths: 我不喝咖啡 – “I don’t drink coffee.”
• 没 negates actions or past events: 我没喝咖啡 – “I didn’t drink coffee.”

Basically, 没 is used to:

• negate actions that have occurred in the past / completed.
• possession or existence.

So,

• “it is raining” is 在下雨.
• “it is not raining” is 没在下雨 - the rain currently does not exist.
• “I am English” is 我是英国人.
• “I am not American” is 我不是美国人 - I am continually not American.

Historically, 没 came about from meaning “to disappear” or “to sink” and slowly evolved into its usage with 有. This gives it a unique linkage to the word.

不 - bù - No / Not

A real downer. 不 expresses generalities, habitual actions as well as present/future actions, and adjectives. 不tiful.

It might be easier to think about it in terms of the negative - aka. defining the negative in terms of the negative. It can’t be used:

• With 有.
• Past / Completed actions.

So, I guess I now have to learn when to use 有 and when not to? When does something exist and when does it not, what does it mean to exist?

For this, I am going to head to mountains to meditate on being.