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不成 (bù chéng) — (adjective/verb) won't do; not acceptable; not allowed; (verb) used in the structure 非...不成 to express necessity (must); (particle) used at the end of a rhetorical question, often with 难道, to add emphasis

Definition

不成 is a set-phrase word (not freely used alone in the sense 'won't do') and also a sentence-final particle in rhetorical questions with 难道. It sounds stiffer and more literary than 不行; 不准 specifically means 'forbidden' and doesn't substitute here.

verb
(adjective/verb) won't donot acceptablenot allowedused in the structure 非...不成 to express necessity (must)
particle
used at the end of a rhetorical question, often with 难道, to add emphasis

Examples

  • 不成，。
    Zhè yàng zuò bù chéng, huì yǒu má fan.
    It won't do to do it this way — there will be trouble.
  • 不成。
    Zhè jiàn shì fēi tā qù bù chéng.
    He must go for this matter; nothing less will do.
  • 不成？
    Nán dào nǐ zhēn de bú qù bù chéng?
    Could it be that you really aren't going?

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
成chéngsucceed; be acceptable

不 negates 成 (succeed, be acceptable), so the result is 'won't do' or 'not acceptable'.

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

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