HSK 4
否定副词：未必
fǒu dìng fù cí ： wèi bì
Negative adverb: 未必 (not necessarily)
Explanation
未必 (wèi bì) is a mood adverb (an adverb expressing the attitude or nuance of a sentence) meaning "not necessarily, not certainly". It negates gently and cautiously: the speaker believes something may not be true / may not happen, rather than flatly asserting it is false.
未必 (wèi bì) + verb / adjective / modal verb (a modal verb such as 会 huì "will", 能 néng "can"), e.g. 未必会来 (wèi bì huì lái = not necessarily coming), 未必可靠 (wèi bì kě kào = not necessarily reliable).
when gently rejecting someone's guess or assertion, conveying "that is not necessarily as true as you think".
未必 (wèi bì, not necessarily — still leaving the possibility open) differs from 不 (bù, not — a flat negation) and from 一定不 (yí dìng bù, definitely not). "未必会来" means may or may not come; "不会来" asserts they will not come.
using 未必 to negate completely like 不 (wrong). Also, 未必 already carries a negative meaning, so you usually do not add 不 after it when unnecessary ("他未必来" already means "he may not necessarily come").
Examples
This news is not necessarily reliable; let's wait a bit longer.
Don't wait anymore, he won't necessarily come.
Practice
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Learn “否定副词：未必” effectively
The grammar point “否定副词：未必” (Negative adverb: 未必 (not necessarily)) is one of the key structures at HSK 4. To use it fluently, you need to understand the contexts where it's used and practice regularly.
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