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不得 (bù dé) — must not; may not (used in formal rules, regulations, or written prohibitions)

Definition

不得 (bù dé) is a formal, written prohibition used in rules and regulations, typically translated as 'must not'. It is far more formal than 不要 or 不许, which belong to spoken language.

verb
must notmay not (used in formal rules, regulations, or written prohibitions)

Examples

  • 不得。
    Cān guān bó wù guǎn shí bù dé dà shēng shuō huà.
    You must not speak loudly when visiting the museum.
  • ，不得。
    Gēn jù gōng sī guī dìng, yuán gōng bù dé chí dào.
    According to company policy, employees may not be late.
  • 不得。
    Kǎo shì shí bù dé kàn qí tā tóng xué de dá àn.
    During the exam, you must not look at other students' answers.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不bùnot
得décan; obtain

不 negates 得, so the result is cannot or must not.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

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