不行 (bùxíng) — Not work in Mandarin

bù​xíng
“Not work”

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#1439 most common word

Pinyin colour key: tone 1 (high flat), tone 2 (rising), tone 3 (dipping), tone 4 (falling), neutral.

Tone breakdown

不行 is pronounced bùxíng. Tap any syllable’s row to hear the whole word.

bù
fourth tone (sharp falling, ˋ)
xíng
second tone (rising, ˊ)

In a sentence

zhège bànfǎ búxíng。

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Frequently asked questions

What does 不行 mean?+

不行 (bùxíng) means "Not work" in Mandarin Chinese.

How do you pronounce 不行?+

不行 is pronounced bùxíng. It uses the tone 4 (falling), then the tone 2 (rising). Tap the character on this page to hear native audio.

How common is 不行 in Mandarin?+

不行 is the #1439 most frequent word in spoken Mandarin, so it is one of the first words worth learning.

Words at a similar frequency

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Browse more on the Mandarin vocabulary hub, or read how to learn Mandarin tones.