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不該

简不该 · 繁不該

Mandarin · pinyin bù gāi

should not

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
該: gāi · should, ought to, need to
该: gāi · should, ought to, need to

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–1 · bu4 gai1

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

不該 · find source passages ↗ · 不该 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

should not
to not owe

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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