To negate a causative construction, one may make either the first or the
second verb negative, depending on the meaning required:
(1) Negating the first verb:
他没叫你去游泳。
Tā méi jiào nǐ qù yóu yǒng 。
He didn’t tell you to go swimming.
小李不准我去参加这次活动。
Xiǎo lǐ bú zhǔn wǒ qù cān jiā zhè cì huó dòng 。
Xiao Li will not allow me to take part in these activities.
她不让我把门打开。
Tā bú ràng wǒ bǎ mén dǎ kāi 。
She didn’t let me open the door.
(2) Negating the second verb:
他叫你别去游泳。
Tā jiào nǐ bié qù yóu yǒng 。
He told you not to go swimming.
小李准我不参加这次活动。
Xiǎo lǐ zhǔn wǒ bú cān jiā zhè cì huó dòng 。
Xiao Li allowed me not to take part in these activities.
她让我别把门打开。
Tā ràng wǒ bié bǎ mén dǎ kāi 。
She told me not to open the door.
[1] Yip, P. C., Rimmington, D., Xiaoming, Z., & Henson, R. (2009). Basic Chinese: a grammar and workbook. Taylor & Francis.
