HSK 5 · Verbs

否定 fǒudìng “to negate” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 否定 means

  1. to negate
  2. to deny
  3. to reject
  4. negative (answer)
  5. negation

How to say 否定

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale否fǒu3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale定dìng4th tone, falling

否定 in a sentence

  1. 我既不能确认也不能否定。

    Wǒ jì bùnéng quèrèn yě bùnéng fǒudìng.

    I can neither confirm nor deny it.

    Sentence #5933767 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 汤姆认为答案是否定的。

    Tāngmǔ rènwéi dá'àn shì fǒudìng de.

    Tom thinks the answer is no.

    Sentence #13893669 from Tatoeba

  3. 谁也不能否定其事实。

    Shéi yě bùnéng fǒudìng qí shìshí.

    No one can deny the fact.

    Sentence #7752874 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 否定 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 否 (fǒu) with each of its parts in a different colour
否fǒuto negate
  • 不no · bùMeaning part
  • 口mouth · kǒuSound part

不 hints at the meaning (no); 口 (kǒu) hints at the sound. Compare it with fǒu.

The character 定 (dìng) with each of its parts in a different colour
定dìngto fix; to set; to make definite
  • 宀roof · mián
  • 疋roll of cloth · pǐ

Memory aidA roof 宀 over 正 “upright”, squashed at the bottom so it looks like 疋: settled, fixed.

How to write 否定

否 7 strokes · 定 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

否定 (fǒudìng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 否定 (fǒudìng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 否定

Words with 否

否则fǒuzé · otherwise是否shìfǒu · whether (or not)否认fǒurèn · to declare to be untrue否决fǒujué · to veto

Words with 定

一定yídìng · surely决定juédìng · decide定dìng · to decide肯定kěndìng · to be certain规定guīdìng · to stipulate确定quèdìng · to confirm固定gùdìng · to fix制定zhìdìng · to draw up稳定wěndìng · steady说不定shuōbudìng · can’t say for sure

More words: Thinking & Talking

废话fèihuà · nonsense分别fēnbié · to part分析fēnxī · to analyse讽刺fěngcì · to satirise否认fǒurèn · to declare to be untrue概括gàikuò · to summarise感受gǎnshòu · to feel感想gǎnxiǎng · impressions

FAQs

否定 (fǒudìng) means “to negate” or “to deny”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it fǒudìng: fǒu with a 3rd tone, then dìng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 否定 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type fouding with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 否定 from the suggestions. Typing fouding into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
否定 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.