expressing prohibitions
12.5应当/應當 yīngdāng孩子应当尊敬父母。
孩子應當尊敬父母。
Háizi yīngdāng zūnjìng fùmǔ.
Children should respect their parents.
C50.1.212.4.3 using modal verbs to express negative obligations: need not,
do not have to
不必 bù bì expresses negative obligation, using the syllable 必 bì that occurs in the strong
obligation modal verbs 必得 bìděi and 必须/必須 bìxū. For additional ways to express nega-
tive obligations, see 50.1.3.
你去看朋友的时候不必送礼物。
你去看朋友的時候不必送禮物。
Nǐ qù kàn péngyou de shíhou bù bì sòng lǐwù.
When you visit friends, it is not necessary to bring a gift.12.5 Expressing prohibitions
The following phrases involving modal verbs are used to express prohibitions. For additional
phrases used in expressing prohibitions, see
C50.2不可以 bù kěyǐ ‘not allowed to’
考试的时候不可以说话。
考試的時候不可以說話。
Kǎoshì de shíhou bù kěyǐ shuō huà.
During the test you cannot speak.不能 bù néng ‘cannot’
这些书都是内部刊物。你不能借。
這些書都是內部刊物。你不能借。
Zhè xiē shū dōu shì nèi bù kānwù. Nǐ bù néng jiè.
Those books are all restricted publications. You can’t borrow them.这件事情，我不能告诉你。
這件事情，我不能告訴你。
Zhè jiàn shìqing, wǒ bù néng gàosu nǐ.
(As for) this matter, I can’t tell you about it.
不许/不許 bù xǔ ‘must not, not allowed’不许/不許 bù xǔ is used in formal speech and writing.
图书馆里不许抽烟、吃东西。
圖書館裏不許抽煙、吃東西。
Túshūguǎn lǐ bù xǔ chōu yān, chī dōngxi.
You are not allowed to smoke or eat (things) in the library.C50.2.1