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plCommon errors
1. Incorrect position
1.1 没/沒、没有/沒有 comes before the verb it negates, but beginners sometimes place it incorrectly, especially after the verb or before the subject:
*我没昨天上课。
*我昨天上没课。
我昨天没上课。
*我沒昨天上課。
*我昨天上沒課。
我昨天沒上課。
1.2 Incorrect position: 没/沒、没有/沒有 is usually placed after other adverbs, however learners might place the adverb after 没/沒有、没有/沒有:
*我昨天上没也课。
我昨天也没上课。
*我昨天上沒也課。
我昨天也沒上課。
2. Overuse of 有
When the main verb is 有 only 没/沒 is used as the negation adverb, however learners might mistakenly use 没有/沒有:
*我没有有姐妹。
我没有姐妹。
*我沒有有姐妹。
我沒有姐妹。
3. Keeping the aspectual particle 了 in the negated sentence
Sentences including aspectual particle 了: 没/沒、没有/沒有 negates the aspectual particle 了, but the particle is omitted from the sentence. Learners might mistakenly keep 了:
*我没吃了饭。
我没吃饭。
*我沒吃了飯。
我沒吃飯。
4. Confusing negation adverbs
4.1 Chinese uses different negation adverbs for different contexts. This might confuse learners and lead to confusing 没/沒、没有/沒有 with other negation adverbs, especially 不:
*我不有姐妹。
*我不有姐妹。
我没有姐妹。
我沒有姐妹。
*昨天我不上课。
*昨天我不上課。
昨天我没上课。
昨天我沒上課。
*明天我没去学校。
*明天我沒去學校。
明天我不去学校。
明天我不去學校。
*她现在没去上课。
*她現在沒去上課
她现在不去上课。
她現在不去上課。
*他没喝咖啡。
*他沒喝咖啡。
他不喝咖啡。
他不喝咖啡。
*没进去!
*沒進去!
别进去!
*別進去!
4.2 Using 没/沒、没有/沒有 in unsuitable contexts: 没/沒、没有/沒有 are usually not used with modal verbs or adjectives; however learners might mistakenly use 没/沒、没有/沒有, especially if the sentence is used about the past (mistaking: 没/沒、没有/沒有 for past tense.).
*这本书没贵。
这本书不贵。
*這本書沒貴。
這本書不貴。
*我没会游泳。
我不会游泳。
*我沒會游泳。
我不會游泳。
5. Pragmatic error or inappropriate usage
5.1 Since 没/沒、没有/沒有 does not indicate anything about tense, sentences with 没/沒、没有/沒有 usually either include time expressions or contextual clues to the time. However, learners might not be aware of this, leading to vague or unnatural communication:
我没去学校 。
我沒去學校 。
The sentence is grammatically correct but without any kind of reference to when action was expected to occur, it may sound incomplete. When there are no contextual clues to the time, a time expression can provide the listener with sufficient context.
昨天我没去学校。
昨天我沒去學校。
5.2 Using 没/沒、没有/沒有 where 不 would be more appropriate for politeness or social norms, e.g. in declining an offer:
A: 喝茶吗？
A: 喝茶嗎？
B: 没喝。
B: 沒喝。
B: 不喝，谢谢。
B: 不喝，謝謝。
没 negates facts, while 不 can express a polite refusal.
Sometimes 没、没有 alone can sound impolite, if the implication is ‘not yet’:
A: 你吃饭了吗？
A: 你吃飯了嗎？
B: 没吃。
B: 沒吃。
还没吃。
還沒吃。
还/還 softens the expression.
L1 inference error
1.1 没/沒、没有/沒有 is not a tense marker but an aspectual negator, that denies the occurrence or completion of an action, not its past timing. However, beginners may assume Chinese works like English and treat 没/沒、没有/沒有 like ‘did not’, transferring it to any sentence where English would use past tense.
I did not like this book:
*我没喜欢这本书。
我不喜欢这本书。
*我沒喜歡這本書。
我不喜歡這本書。
1.2 Another common transfer error is dropping the time expression. English often relies on verb tense alone to indicate past actions, e.g. ‘I did not go’. However, in Chinese, without a time word, 没(有)/沒(有) only tells the action did not happen, not when.
1.3 In English ‘any’ or ‘some’ is often included in negation, e.g. ‘I did not eat anything’. In Chinese quantifiers like 一些 are dropped in negation.
I did not eat anything:
*我没吃一些东西。
我没吃东西。or 我什么都没吃。
*我沒吃一些東西。
我沒吃東西。or 我什麼都沒吃。