没有
méi yǒu
Negation of past actions with "meiyou"
没有 negates something that didn't happen — the past-tense "not".
没(有) + Verb
How it works
我没有去酒吧 is "I didn't go to the bar". Use 没(有) whenever the action simply did not take place, and 不 for habits, states and intentions.
有 can be dropped: 我没去酒吧 means exactly the same thing.
Crucially, 了 cannot appear with 没: 我没去了 is wrong. Negating a completed action removes the 了.
Examples
wǒ méi yǒu qù jiǔ bā
我没有去酒吧。
I didn't go to the bar.
tā méi chī zǎo fàn
他没吃早饭。
He didn't eat breakfast.
wǒ hái méi kàn zhè ge diàn yǐng
我还没看这个电影。
I haven't seen this film yet.
Common mistakes
- 没…了 is never correct. Drop the 了.