不得

Pinyin: bùdé

must not; may not; not to be allowed; cannot

Example sentence

我哭笑不得。

Wǒ kū xiào bùdé.

I don't know whether to cry or to laugh.

Tatoeba · kefesh09305d1L ↗

What 不得 means

不得 (bùdé) is a Chinese word meaning “must not; may not; not to be allowed; cannot”. It appears in the HSK 6 collection.

More HSK 6 words

HSK 6

Words and levels: HSK Examination Syllabus (2025), Center for Language Education and Cooperation · meanings: CC-CEDICT · example sentences: Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) · Dictionary-derived data: CC BY-SA 4.0.

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