未必 (wèi bì) — not necessarily; maybe not

Definition

未必 (wèi bì) means 'not necessarily' and expresses a mild doubt or possibility that something may not be true. It is more formal and tentative than 不见得 (bú jiàn dé), which is more colloquial and emphatic. Unlike 不必 (bù bì, 'need not'), 未必 does not mean 'there is no need to' — it only questions certainty.

adverb

not necessarilymaybe not

Examples

未必。
wèi bì shì nàyàng.
It's not necessarily like that.
未必。
Tā shuō de wèi bì duì.
What he said may not be correct.
未必。
Nǐ nǔlì le wèi bì néng chénggōng.
Even if you work hard, you may not necessarily succeed.

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