Negative words in Chinese – difference between 不 and 没

Do you know how to use 不 bù and 没 méi, the basic negative words in Chinese grammar? Both of them have the meaning of “no, not”. Then what’s the difference between 不 and 没?

"brainless" and "not happy"

First, in the view of tense, 没 is used in the negative past tense, while 不 is used in negative sentences that describe a status or an action now or in the future.For example: 我昨天没去学校（wǒ zuó tiān méi qù xué xiào）。 I didn’t go to school yesterday. In the sentence, 没 describes a negative meaning of an action in the past. 我明天不去学校（wǒ mínɡ tiān bú qù xué xiào）。 I will not go to school tomorrow. In the sentence, 不 describes a negative meaning of an action in the future.

Second, the verb 有 should always be negated by”没”. For example: 我没有女朋友（wǒ méi yǒu nǚ pénɡ you）。And the word 是 should always be negated by “不”. For example: In the dialogue of iChinesePodcast's newbie Chinese podcast lesson 《你是小王吗？》, there is a sentence “他不是小王”（tā bú shì xiǎo wánɡ）。

Third, 不 is often used to describe a subjective meaning while 没 is used to describe an objective meaning. For example: 我不喜欢吃苹果（wǒ bù xǐ huɑn chī pínɡ ɡuǒ）。This sentence tells that my subjective attitude is: I don’t like apples.