Level 4 · Lesson 2

我没吃饭
I didn't eat

我没吃。我家没有菜。

没 says the event did not happen — and it always pushes 了 out of the sentence.

听 · Listen

我忘了
 安娜 —  李明，你吃了吗？ 
Li Ming, have you eaten?  
 李明 —  我没吃。我忘了。 
I haven't. I forgot.  
 安娜 —  你没吃晚饭？ 
You haven't had dinner?  
 李明 —  没有。我家没有菜。 
No. There's no food at my place.  
 安娜 —  我有面包，也有牛奶。 
I've got bread, and milk too.  
 李明 —  谢谢！我吃一点儿面包。 
Thanks! I'll have a bit of bread.  
 安娜 —  你记得吗？明天早上八点上课。 
Do you remember? Class is at eight tomorrow morning.  
 李明 —  我记得！这个我没忘。 
I remember! That one I haven't forgotten.  

讲解 · Explanation

我没吃。我没买书。昨天我没去学校。

没 is the negative for an event that did not take place — the doing never got completed. It stands in front of the verb, just where 了 does not. And here is the rule that costs learners the most marks: when 没 comes in, 了 goes out. Say 我没吃, never 我没吃了. One event, one marker; 没 already carries the meaning 'it did not get done'.

我没有钱。我家没有菜。你有词典吗？——没有。

没有 is the one and only negative of 有. There is no such thing as 不 plus 有 in Chinese — not in speech, not in writing, nowhere. Learn 有 and 没有 as a pair from today. 没有 also answers a question all by itself, which is why 李明 can simply say 没有 in the dialogue.

我吃一点儿面包。我喝一点儿水。

一点儿 means 'a little, a bit', and it goes in front of the noun, exactly where a number and measure word would go. In speech the 儿 is really pronounced, so we write it: yìdiǎnr. Two more words for today: 忘 'forget' and 记得 'remember' — note that 得 here is the light, toneless de, so 记得 is jìde.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
没	did not (an event that never happened)	没 + verb: 没吃, 没去, 没买
没有	not to have; there is not	the only negative of 有; can stand alone as an answer
忘	to forget	我忘了 wǒ wàng le
记得	to remember	得 is the light de, not dé
一点儿	a little, a bit	一点儿面包, 一点儿水

练习 · Practice

昨天我 ______ 学校。 Yesterday I didn't go to school.

你有词典吗？ Answer: no, you don't have one.

刚才我 ______ 喝水。 Fill in the negator: 'I didn't drink any water just now.'

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I didn't buy that book.'

没、没有、忘、记得、一点儿 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

昨天我没去公园。我家没有牛奶。我忘了，对不起！

Say three things aloud. First, one thing you did not do yesterday: 昨天我没… — and check that no 了 slipped in after the verb. Second, one thing you do not have at home, using 没有. Third, apologise for forgetting something: 我忘了，对不起！ Then ask a friend 你吃了吗？ and answer yourself both ways: 我吃了 and 我没吃.