不要 (búyào) — Must not in Mandarin
🔊 Tap to hear it
#202 most common word
Pinyin colour key: tone 1 (high flat), tone 2 (rising), tone 3 (dipping), tone 4 (falling), neutral.
Tone breakdown
不要 is pronounced búyào. Tap any syllable’s row to hear the whole word.
In a sentence
Búyào chídào.
Don't be late.
Hear it, then say it right
Reading pinyin only gets you halfway. ToneDeck plays native audio for 不要 and thousands more words, then scores your pronunciation so your tones land. HSK 1 is free, no install.
Start freeFrequently asked questions
What does 不要 mean?+
不要 (búyào) means "Must not" in Mandarin Chinese.
How do you pronounce 不要?+
不要 is pronounced búyào. It uses the tone 2 (rising), then the tone 4 (falling). Tap the character on this page to hear native audio.
How common is 不要 in Mandarin?+
不要 is the #202 most frequent word in spoken Mandarin, so it is one of the first words worth learning.
Words at a similar frequency
Master the tones first
What each tone sounds like and why it matters.
Why some tones change in connected speech.
On iPhone, Android and the web
ToneDeck is on the App Store. The trainer works right now.
Download ToneDeck for iPhone or Android today. One account unlocks Pro on both the app and the web. Prefer the browser? The full tone trainer runs at tonedeck.app right now, no install, free to start.
Sign up free and start trainingBrowse more on the Mandarin vocabulary hub, or read how to learn Mandarin tones.