没

沒
méi
HSK 1
#72 most
frequent character
(negative prefix for verbs)
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

没 first showed a hand reaching into water to pull something out. Later 氵 water was added, and the simplified form uses 殳 in place of the old hand shape. The first sense led to 'sink', then to 'have not' or 'disappear' and 'die' depending on reading.

Drawn as: hand reaching into water

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Example Sentences

我没吃早饭。
wǒméi chī zǎofàn 。
I didn’t have breakfast.
她没去学校。
tā méiqù xuéxiào 。
She didn't go to school.
他们没买票。
tāmen méi mǎi piào 。
They didn't buy tickets.

Grammar Points

HSK 1
Negation of "you" with "mei"
HSK 1
Comparing "bu" and "mei"
HSK 3
Inability with "mei banfa"
HSK 1
Negation of past actions with "meiyou"

Same Characters, Different Readings

没mò
drowned, to end, to die, to inundate

Homophones

HSK 6
枚méi
"classifier for coins, rings, badges, pearls, sporting medals, rockets, satellites etc"
煤méi
coal
梅méi
plum, plum flower
媒méi
medium, intermediary, matchmaker

Words Starting With 没

没关系méi guān xi
it doesn't matter
没辙méi zhé
(idiom) unable to solve; no way to escape a problem

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Public Lists with 没

Daily Routines
Verbs and nouns related to waking up, chores, personal care, and daily life.
Basic Verbs
Core action verbs like 'go,' 'come,' 'eat,' 'see,' commonly encountered in HSK.
HSK 1
All words for the HSK 1 test