▎不見得, bújiàndé, (Adv), not necessarily

 

Function 不見得 means ‘It does not necessarily follow from the previous point’.

1 現在工作不好找。就算念理想的大學，也不見得找得到好工作。

Xiànzài gōngzuò bù hǎo zhǎo. Jiùsuàn niàn lǐxiǎng de dàxué, yě bújiàndé zhǎodedào hǎo gōngzuò.

Jobs are hard to find right now. Even graduates of top schools aren’t necessarily guaranteed a good job.

2 學歷高的人不見得都可以當經理。

Xuélì gāo de rén bújiàndé dōu kěyǐ dāng jīnglǐ.

Being highly educated doesn’t necessarily mean one will become a manager.

3 離開家鄉的人不見得都能在節日回家團聚。

Líkāi jiāxiāng de rén bújiàndé dōu néng zài jiérì huíjiā tuánjù.

Those who move away from home aren’t necessarily able to come home for the holidays.

4 好吃的東西不見得對身體好。

Hǎochī de dōngxi bújiàndé duì shēntǐ hǎo.

Tasty food isn’t necessarily healthy food.

5 有的人開茶店不見得是為了賺錢。

Yǒu de rén kāi chá diàn bújiàndé shì wèile zhuàn qián.

Some people don’t necessarily open up tea shops just to make money.

 

Usage

(1) 不見得 has no affirmative form, i.e., ＊見得.

(2) Can combine with negative sentences, e.g., 今天不見得不會下雪。Jīntiān bújiàndé búhuì xiàxuě. ‘It won’t necessarily not snow today.’

(3) 不見得 can refute a previous claim or viewpoint. e.g.,

一天學五十個詞不見得能提高中文能力。

Yì tiān xué wǔshí ge cí bújiàndé néng tígāo Zhōngwén nénglì.

Studying 50 words a day won’t necessarily improve your Chinese proficiency.

(4) 不見得 is used colloquially, and it can stand alone or in the middle of a sentence. Keep in mind that 不見得 is not always synonymous with 不一定. Both can be used to express disagreement, but when expressing uncertainty that is viewpoint neutral, 不見得 cannot be used. E.g.,

1 A：他明天一定來。

Tā míngtiān yídìng lái.

He is sure to come tomorrow.

B：他明天不見得會來。/他明天不一定會來。

Tā míngtiān bújiàndé huì lái. / Tā míngtiān bùyídìng huì lái.

He won’t necessarily come tomorrow.

2 A：他明天來不來？

Tā míngtiān lái bù lái?

Is he coming tomorrow?

B：不一定來。Bùyídìng lái. /＊不見得會來。Bújiàndé huì lái.

Not necessarily.

3 A：我想小玲會在台灣上大學。

Wǒ xiǎng Xiǎolíng huì zài Táiwān shàng dàxué.

I think Xiaoling will go to university in Taiwan.

B：不見得。Bújiàndé. /不一定。Bùyídìng.

Not necessarily.

4 A：小玲打算在台灣上大學嗎？

Xiǎolíng dǎsuàn zài Táiwān shàng dàxué ma?

Does Xiaoling plan to go to university in Taiwan?

B：不一定。Bùyídìng. /＊不見得。Bújiàndé.

Not necessarily.

5 A：颱風來的時候一定會放假。

Táifēng lái de shíhòu yídìng huì fàngjià.

When typhoons hit, we get the day off.

B：不見得。Bújiàndé. /不一定。Bùyídìng.

Not necessarily.

6 A：颱風來的時候會不會放假？

Táifēng lái de shíhòu huì bú huì fàngjià?

When the typhoon gets here, will we get the day off?

B：不一定。Bùyídìng. /＊不見得。Bújiàndé.

Not necessarily.

(5) 不見得 is an adverb and precedes other adverbs such as 都, 也 and 還 etc.

1 老師的說明，學生不見得都懂。

Lǎoshī de shuōmíng, xuéshēng bújiàndé dōu dǒng.

2 你欣賞的藝術表演，別人不見得也欣賞。

Nǐ xīnshǎng de yìshù biǎoyǎn, biérén bújiàndé yě xīnshǎng.

3 運動員過了四十歲以後，不見得還能參加比賽。

Yùndòngyuán guòle sìshí suì yǐhòu, bújiàndé hái néng cānjiā bǐsài.