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没有 (méi yǒu) — (verb) to not have; to lack; (adverb) used before verbs to indicate something did not happen in the past

Definition

没有 is the everyday way to negate 有 ("not have / there isn't") and to negate past actions. Its written/formal equivalent is 无; use 没有 in normal speech.

verb
to not haveto lack
adverb
used before verbs to indicate something did not happen in the past

Examples

  • 没有。
    Wǒ méi yǒu shū.
    I don't have a book.
  • 没有。
    Tā méi yǒu lái.
    He didn't come.
  • 没有。
    Jīn tiān méi yǒu shuǐ.
    Today there is no water.

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.

没méinot
有yǒuhave

没 not and 有 have combine to express that something is absent or did not happen.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 沒; 没 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠬛
𠬛𠬛沒mò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 沒 pairs 水 (water) with 𠬛 as a sound part; this note is about 沒, not the simplified 没.

Open 没 →

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

Grammar

Appears in
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