Similar to Cantonese, the " fēn 分" (minutes) after the number can generally be omitted in Mandarin, unless it is ten minutes, for example "liù diǎn shí fēn 六点十分" (6:10). Also, if the number of minutes is less than ten, " líng 零" (zero) needs to be added before the number, which is the same in Cantonese as well. Please refer to the table below:
"bù 不" (not) and "méi 没（有）" (not) are both used to negate a verb or adjective in Chinese .
"不" modifies the verb as a negation of the action itself, and "没" modifies the verb as a negation of the completion or experience of the action. For example,
Also note that "不" expresses a subjective will or attitude when used to negate an action activity, as the sentence "我不看电影。" indicates. Whereas "没（有）", when used to negate an action activity, only indicates an objective description of something without subjectivity, as in "我没有看电影。" Furthermore, "没（有）" can function as a verb and be placed before a noun, but "不" cannot. For example,
In Chinese, the juxtaposition of the affirmative and negative forms of a predicate in a sentence can form a question sentence. "bù 不" (not) could be used to form "verb+不+verb" questions and "adjective+不+adjective"questions. In this structure, it is important to note that "不" should be pronounced as neutral tone "bu".
Responses to "verb/adjective + 不 +verb / adjective" questions can take the form of complete sentences, either affirmative or negative. For example, you may say:
When answering the question structure "adj+不+adj," it is important to note that if the answer is affirmative and has a subject, then it is necessary to include the degree adverb "hěn 很" between the subject and the adjective. This is similar to the requirement in Cantonese to include "好" in the answer. If the answer sentence does not have a subject, there is no such restriction, as demonstrated in the example sentence above.
The responses can also be short sentences with the subject or object omitted. For instance:
"méi 沒" (no) is commonly used in "yǒu 有 + 沒 + 有" questions. Note that you cannot say "yǒu bu yǒu 有不有".
