Dictionary › 不得不

不得不

bù dé bù

Old HSK 4 HSK 3.0 level 4 3-character word

不得不 (bù dé bù) means "have no choice or option but to". It is an HSK 3.0 level 4 word, and was HSK 4 in the old six-level list.

What 不得不 means

1. have no choice or option but to
2. cannot but
3. have to
4. can't help it
5. can't avoid

The characters in 不得不

• 不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-
• 得destructural particle: used after a verb (or adjective as main verb), linking it to…
• 不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-

Where 不得不 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Modal & certainty adverbs (HSK 4), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 4 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read bù dé bù correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.