不行 meaning in English

bùxíng

won't do; be out of the question

HSK 2verbadjective10 strokes

Meaning of 不行

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

bùxíng

won't do
be out of the question
be no good
not work
not be capable

How to use 不行

不行 is a common way to refuse or say something is not allowed, and it can also describe something or someone as not good or not capable. Example: 明天不行，后天可以吗？ (Míngtiān bùxíng, hòutiān kěyǐ ma?) Tomorrow won't work, is the day after okay?

不 (bù) means not, and 行 (xíng) means to go or be okay. If something does not go, it is 不行: it won't work.

Common mistake: Learners often read 不 here with a second tone, as in 不对 (búduì) or 不用 (búyòng). That tone change only happens before a fourth tone, and 行 (xíng) is second tone, so 不行 keeps the fourth tone: bùxíng.

不行 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ觉jué得de这zhè主zhǔ意yì不bù行xíng。

I don't think it's a good idea.

我wǒ不bù行xíng了le！我wǒ已yǐ经jīng三sān天tiān没méi睡shuì过guò了le！

I can't take it anymore! I haven't slept for three days!

他tā要yào不bù行xíng了le。

He's on his last legs.

那nà天tiān我wǒ不bù行xíng。

That's a bad day for me.

我wǒ想xiǎng还hái待dài一yī夜yè，行xíng不bù行xíng？

I'd like to stay one more night. Is that possible?

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

不 bù · no · 4 strokes

行 xíng · to walk · 6 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 不行.

对不起	duìbuqǐ	I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint
是不是	shì bu shì	is or is not (used to form yes-no questions)
不用	bùyòng	need not
不大	bù dà	not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently
不对	bùduì	incorrect; wrong
不客气	bù kèqì	you're welcome; don't mention it
不要	bùyào	don't!; must not
不过	bùguò	only; merely
不错	bùcuò	correct; right
不同	bù tóng	different; distinct
进行	jìnxíng	(of a process etc) to proceed; to be in progress; to be underway; (of people) to carry out
行动	xíngdòng	operation; action

Questions about 不行

What does 不行 mean?

不行 (bùxíng) means "won't do; be out of the question" and is used as a verb and adjective.

How do you write 不行?

不行 is made of 2 characters: 不 (4 strokes), 行 (6 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.

Is 不行 an HSK word?

Yes. 不行 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the opposite of 不行?

The opposite is 行 (xíng), meaning okay or fine. When someone asks 行不行？ (xíng bu xíng?), you answer 行 for yes or 不行 for no.

Can 不行 describe a person's ability?

Yes. 他的中文不行 (Tā de Zhōngwén bùxíng) means his Chinese is not good. This is quite direct, so be careful using it about someone in front of them.