expressing prohibitions: must not, should not
50.2别开玩笑。
別開玩笑。
Bié kāi wánxiào.
Don’t joke. (Be serious.)考试以前不要紧张。
考試以前不要緊張。
Kǎoshì yǐqián bù yào jǐnzhāng.
Before a test don’t be nervous.
C12.550.2.2 expressing weak prohibitions: should not
The Mandarin words used to indicate that an action should not be done are 不应该/應該
bù yīnggāi and 不应当/應當 bù yīngdāng.你不应该/应当打人。
你不應該/應當打人。
Nǐ bù yīnggāi/yīngdāng dǎ rén.
You shouldn’t hit people.
不应该/應該 bù yīnggāi ‘should not’ and 不应当/應當 bù yīngdāng ‘should not’ sometimes
carry negative expectations. Both of the following sentences can be used after the fact, when
we have seen that the medicine had side effects, or that Zhang San is a bad person.这个药不应该有副作用啊。
這個藥不應該有副作用啊。
Zhège yào bù yīnggāi yǒu fù zuòyòng a.
This drug is not supposed to have any side effects.
张三不应该是坏人啊。
張三不應該是壞人啊。
Zhāng Sān bù yīnggāi shì huài rén a.
Zhang San is not supposed to be a bad person.50.2.3 Formal written words that specify prohibited activities
Here are some commonly used expressions in formal written texts that indicate prohibited
activities. They are always followed by a verb phrase.禁止 jìnzhǐ + verb phrase prohibited from
免 miǎn + verb phrase prohibited from
勿 wù + verb phrase do not
严禁/嚴禁/ yánjìn + verb phrase strictly prohibited from
不准 bù zhǔn + verb phrase not permitted to
Here are the texts of actual signs posted in Chinese cities indicating prohibited activities. They
illustrate the use of formal written words for prohibitions.各种车辆禁止进入 严禁酒后开车
各種車輛禁止進入 嚴禁酒後開車
Gè zhǒng chēliàng jìnzhǐ jìnrù Yánjìn jiǔ hòu kāi chē
No entry Don’t drink and drive
(lit. ‘All vehicles prohibited from entering’) (lit. ‘Driving after drinking is strictly
prohibited’)