<p>没 and 不 are fundamentally different.</p>

<p>没 means "didn't" </p>

<p>不 means "won't" or "don't"</p>

<p>Actually your two sentences are perfectly normal Chinese sentences:</p>

<p>我没喝 means I didn't drink (it) -or- I haven't drank</p>

<p>我不喝 means I don't want to drink -or- I won't drink</p>

<p><strong>A Chinese English Dictionary</strong></p>

<p><strong>没</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>ADVERB INFORMAL
  have not or did not</p>
  
  <p>他来没来？——还没来呢。 </p>
  
  <p>Tā lái méi lái？ —— hái méi lái ne.</p>
  
  <p>Has he come yet?--Not yet.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>不</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>1 (used before verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs; never before 有) not; won't; not want to</p>
  
  <p>我不去。 </p>
  
  <p>Wǒ bù qù.</p>
  
  <p>I'm not going. or I won't go.</p>
  
  <p>他昨天不来,可是今天来了。 </p>
  
  <p>Tā zuótiān bù lái, kěshì jīntiān lái le.</p>
  
  <p>He didn't want to come yesterday,but he came today.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So the deal is: do you want to say haven't (yet), didn't (yet) = 没 -or- won't, don't (want to) = 不. Pretty much any verb can follow 没 and 不 everything just depends on what you want to express.</p>

<p>有 might be the only exception I can think of at the moment but that's been covered here:
<a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/247/why-is-%E6%9C%89-y%C7%92u-the-only-verb-that-requires-%E6%B2%A1-while-other-verbs-can-use-%E4%B8%8D">Why is 有 (yǒu) the only verb that requires 没 while other verbs can use 不?</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-11T06:50:58.350Z
For 有 please take a look here: http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/247/why-is-有-yǒu-the-only-verb-that-requires-没-while-other-verbs-can-use-不
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-11T06:36:05.213Z
2014-07-11T06:52:25.410Z
2017-04-13T12:48:06.457Z
Mou某
<p>I have read some articles Chinese, my question is about above subject, because if I want to say:</p>
<pre><code>我没喝 (it is wrong)
我不喝 (it is right)
</code></pre>
<p>are there list of verb can be followed by 没(mei3) and 不(bu4)?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-11T20:34:42.127Z
Not an answer, but I wanted to point out that 没 is actually mei2, not mei3.
langdi
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-25T11:44:05.137Z
I don't think this is a duplicate of [Why is 有 (yǒu) the only verb that requires 没 while other verbs can use 不?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/247/why-is-%e6%9c%89-y%c7%92u-the-only-verb-that-requires-%e6%b2%a1-while-other-verbs-can-use-%e4%b8%8d) which is much more about etymology (and fairly advanced).
Becky 李蓓
<word><verbs><negation>
When do we use 没(mei3) and 不(bu4) before verbs in sentences?
# When do we use 没(mei3) and 不(bu4) before verbs in sentences?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-07-11)

I have read some articles Chinese, my question is about above subject, because if I want to say:

```
我没喝 (it is wrong)
我不喝 (it is right)

```

are there list of verb can be followed by 没(mei3) and 不(bu4)?

**Tags:** word, verbs, negation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Not an answer, but I wanted to point out that 没 is actually mei2, not mei3.  
> **username_2**: I don't think this is a duplicate of [Why is 有 (yǒu) the only verb that requires 没 while other verbs can use 不?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/247/why-is-%e6%9c%89-y%c7%92u-the-only-verb-that-requires-%e6%b2%a1-while-other-verbs-can-use-%e4%b8%8d) which is much more about etymology (and fairly advanced).  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-07-11. Score: 3

没 and 不 are fundamentally different.

没 means "didn't"

不 means "won't" or "don't"

Actually your two sentences are perfectly normal Chinese sentences:

我没喝 means I didn't drink (it) -or- I haven't drank

我不喝 means I don't want to drink -or- I won't drink

**A Chinese English Dictionary**

**没**

> ADVERB INFORMAL
> have not or did not
>
> 他来没来？——还没来呢。
>
> Tā lái méi lái？ —— hái méi lái ne.
>
> Has he come yet?--Not yet.

**不**

> 1 (used before verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs; never before 有) not; won't; not want to
>
> 我不去。
>
> Wǒ bù qù.
>
> I'm not going. or I won't go.
>
> 他昨天不来,可是今天来了。
>
> Tā zuótiān bù lái, kěshì jīntiān lái le.
>
> He didn't want to come yesterday,but he came today.

So the deal is: do you want to say haven't (yet), didn't (yet) = 没 -or- won't, don't (want to) = 不. Pretty much any verb can follow 没 and 不 everything just depends on what you want to express.

有 might be the only exception I can think of at the moment but that's been covered here:
[Why is 有 (yǒu) the only verb that requires 没 while other verbs can use 不?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/247/why-is-%E6%9C%89-y%C7%92u-the-only-verb-that-requires-%E6%B2%A1-while-other-verbs-can-use-%E4%B8%8D)

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: For 有 please take a look here: http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/247/why-is-有-yǒu-the-only-verb-that-requires-没-while-other-verbs-can-use-不  

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