The Four-Character Pattern 不A不B
Use 不A不B to say “neither too A nor too B” (不大不小) and recognise set phrases like 不慌不忙, 不知不觉 and 不见不散.
文型
不 + A + 不 + B (A and B: one-syllable opposites or near-synonyms)
With opposites, 不A不B usually means “just right”; with similar words, it means “not at all”.
这双鞋不大不小，正合适。
When to use The Four-Character Pattern 不A不B
不A不B puts 不 before each of two one-syllable words to make a four-character phrase. When A and B are opposites (大/小, 冷/热, 多/少), it means “neither A nor B”, which usually means “just right”: 不大不小 “not too big, not too small”. When A and B are close in meaning (慌/忙, 知/觉), the double 不 makes the negation stronger: 不慌不忙 “calm, not hurried at all”.
今天不冷不热，很舒服。
It’s neither cold nor hot today, really pleasant.
这些菜不多不少，刚好够我们三个人吃。
There’s just the right amount of food for the three of us.
他不慌不忙地回答了老师的问题。
He calmly answered the teacher’s question.
不知不觉，我已经在中国住了三年了。
Before I knew it, I’d been living in China for three years.
よくある間違い
- For “neither…nor” use a pair of opposites: 不大不小 is right, but 不大不贵 is wrong. For two unrelated qualities say 不大，也不贵.
- For “just the right size” say 不大不小, not 又大又小: 又A又B means both qualities at once.
- A and B are one syllable each, so the phrase has four characters: 不冷不热, not 不寒冷不炎热.
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