Meaning of 不一定
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- not necessarily
- maybe
How to use 不一定
不一定 goes before a verb or adjective to say something is not always or not definitely the case. It can also stand alone as a short reply meaning "not necessarily" or "maybe not." Example: 贵的东西不一定好。(Guì de dōngxi bù yīdìng hǎo.) Expensive things are not necessarily good.
Break it into parts: 不 (bù, not) + 一定 (yīdìng, certainly). Something that is "not certainly" true is "not necessarily" true.
Common mistake: Learners often read the tones as written. In speech, 不 changes to bú before the fourth tone of 定, and 一 is usually yí, so it sounds like bú yí dìng. Also, 不一定 means "not necessarily," not "definitely not." For a firm "definitely not" use 一定不 (yīdìng bù).
不一定 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
不 bù · no · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
一 yī · one · 1 strokes
- 1
定 dìng · to fix · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 不一定.
| 一起 | yīqǐ | (in) the same place; together; in company (with) |
| 一样 | yīyàng | same; like |
| 对不起 | duìbuqǐ | I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint |
| 一些 | yīxiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 是不是 | shì bu shì | is or is not (used to form yes-no questions) |
| 不用 | bùyòng | need not |
| 一会儿 | yīhuìr | a moment; a while |
| 一半 | yībàn | half |
| 一边 | yībiān | one side; either side |
| 一点儿 | yīdiǎnr | erhua variant of 一點|一点[yi1 dian3] |
| 一块儿 | yīkuàir | erhua variant of 一塊|一块[yi1 kuai4] |
| 不大 | bù dà | not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently |
Questions about 不一定
What does 不一定 mean?
不一定 (bùyīdìng) means "not necessarily; maybe" and is used as a adverb.
How do you write 不一定?
不一定 is made of 3 characters: 不 (4 strokes), 一 (1 strokes), 定 (8 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 不一定 an HSK word?
Yes. 不一定 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 不一定 and 一定不?
不一定 means "not necessarily," so it leaves room for yes. 一定不 means "definitely not." Compare 他不一定来 (he might not come) with 他一定不来 (he is definitely not coming).
Can I answer a question with just 不一定?
Yes. If someone asks 你明天去吗?(Nǐ míngtiān qù ma? Are you going tomorrow?), you can reply 不一定 to mean "not sure" or "maybe." It is a common, natural short answer.