This really depends on what you are saying no to. In Chinese, there is a difference between saying “I don’t want to eat something” and “I don’t want to do something”, for example.
In general, you can use the above answers (mei2 you3 means there is nothing, and mei2 ban4 fa2 means there is no way it can happen, and bu4 hao3 means that’s no okay), or some of these:
- 不要 ( bu1 yao4, don’t want to)
- 不可以 (bu4 ke3 yi3, cannot)
- 不行 (bu4 xing2, cannot)
Your best bet is just to say 不, which would be the literal (but not entirely correct in terms of meaning) translation of “no”.
Meiyou
mei ban fa or bu hsing
没办法 or 不好 sing
