Meaning of 不见
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- not to see
- not to meet
- to have disappeared
- to be missing
How to use 不见
不见 is used for people you have not met in a while and, very often, for things that have disappeared. To say something is lost, Chinese usually puts it at the end with 了: 我的手机不见了。(Wǒ de shǒujī bú jiàn le.) My phone is missing.
不 (bù) means not and 见 (jiàn) means see, so 不见 is simply not seeing. If you cannot see something anymore, it has gone missing.
Common mistake: Learners often forget the tone change. 不 becomes bú before the fourth tone 见, so say bú jiàn, not bù jiàn. Also, to say you lost something, 不见了 is more natural than a word for word phrase like 我失去了手机.
不见 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
见 jiàn · to see · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 不见.
| 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 |
| 再见 | zàijiàn | goodbye; see you again later |
| 看见 | kànjiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 听见 | tīngjiàn | to hear |
| 见面 | jiànmiàn | to meet; to see each other |
| 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 |
Questions about 不见
What does 不见 mean?
不见 (bùjiàn) means "not to see; not to meet" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 不见?
不见 is made of 2 characters: 不 (4 strokes), 见 (4 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 不见 an HSK word?
Yes. 不见 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 不见 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 不见 is written 不見.
What does 好久不见 mean?
好久不见 (hǎojiǔ bú jiàn) means long time no see. It is a common greeting when you meet someone you have not seen for a while.
What is the difference between 不见 and 看不见?
看不见 (kàn bu jiàn) means unable to see, for example because it is too dark or too far away. 不见了 means the thing itself is gone or missing.