Chinese Language Asked on October 23, 2021
I ran across 不知不觉 the other day. If I use MDBG to look up c:不*不*
I see there are many idioms with that format. Can I use it with any verbs (?) or is it only part of fixed expressions?
Is 不 A 不 B a grammatical structure like 又 A 又 B?
They are different. Most [不 A 不 B] terms are either idiom or four characters idiomatic phrase that you have to memorize individually.
The A and B in [又 A 又 B] can be a single character word, a compound word or even an entire phrase. e.g. 又高又瘦,又高又瘦削,又想高大又想瘦削
Below are the common [不 A 不 B] terms:
[A complement B ]
不慌不忙: (not panic, not hurry) stay calm
不聞不問: (not listening, not inquire) ignore
不知不覺: (not know, not feel) not notice
不經不覺: (not experience, not feel) not notice (of time passing)
不瞅不睬: (not looking, not pay attention) ignore
不明不白: (not understandable, not clear) unclear
不倫不類: (not any type or kind) ridiculous
不慍不火: (not angry, not enrage) calm; mild
不痛不癢: (not hurt, not itchy) insignificant attack/ lost
不飲不食: (not eat, not drink) not eat nor drink
不眠不休: (not sleep, not rest) tirelessly; relentlessly, persistently
不忠不孝: disloyal, not filial (no virtue)
不仁不義: unkind, unjust (no honor)
不過不失: (not considered a wrong doing, not considered a mistake) average/ mediocre
不折不扣: (no discount, no rebate) truly; definitely
不離不棄: (not leaving, not abandon) never abandon
不盡不實: (not detailed, not true) not telling the truth
不驕不躁: (not prideful, not irritated) stay calm and focused
不屈不撓: (not bending, not yielding) Never give up
不三不四: (not this, not that) dubious
不依不饒: (not agree with, not forgive) pestering/ not let things go
不聲不響: (Silent, not make a sound) silently/ be silent
[A contradict B ]
不卑不亢: (not too humble, not too excited) proper demeanor
不偏不倚: (not lend away , not lean onto) right on/ Objective (opinion)
不緩不迭: (not slow, not swift) steady normal pace
不男不女: (not a man, nor a woman) sex unknown
不上不下: (not up, not down) struct in the middle
不大不小: (not big, not small) the right size
不冷不熱: (not hot not cold) mild reception; right temperature
不高不低; (not high, not low) middle position (of rank or level)
不胖不瘦: (not fat, not thin) average body type
不咸不淡: (not salty not bland) unremarkable taste/ mediocre
[B until/ unless A]
不死不休: not stopping until one is dead
不吐不快: not happy until saying (something)
不時不食: do not eat unless it is in-season
不見不散: not leaving until we meet
I would update this list when I think up more.
Answered by Tang Ho on October 23, 2021
No, not with any verb, although you would see lots of idioms follow that pattern. You need to learn them separately.
Answered by dan on October 23, 2021
why not? see bkrs: II cons. 1) 不 A 不 B (where A B are paired synonyms): not A B 不慌不忙 unhurried 2) 不 A 不 B (where A B are antonymous stative verbs): neither A nor B 不大不小 neither (too) big nor (too) small 3) 不 A 不 B (where A B are antonymous verbs): no B without A 不破不立 no constructing without destroying cf. restrictions for 又 。。。又, see e.g. https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22both_A_and_B%22_with_%22you%22 bkrs:又.... 又… linking antonyms, often translated as neither... nor, 又不好, 又不坏 , 又不哭, 又不笑, [又]不是牛又不是马
Answered by user6065 on October 23, 2021
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