不一定 Not Necessarily in Chinese

早上zǎoshang，天tiān很hěn阴yīn，我们wǒmen打算dǎsuàn下午xiàwǔ去qù看kàn比赛bǐsài。

In the morning it was overcast, and we planned to go watch a match in the afternoon.

同事tóngshì说shuō：“下午xiàwǔ一定yídìng会huì下雨xiàyǔ。”

My colleague said: "It's definitely going to rain this afternoon."

我wǒ说shuō：“不一定bù yídìng，天气预报tiānqì yùbào有时候yǒu shíhou也yě会huì错cuò。”

I said: "Not necessarily — the weather forecast is sometimes wrong too."

他tā说shuō他tā看kàn了le新闻xīnwén，新闻xīnwén里lǐ说shuō今天jīntiān有yǒu大雨dàyǔ。

He said he'd watched the news, and the news said there would be heavy rain today.

到了dàole下午xiàwǔ，天气tiānqì慢慢mànmàn变好biànhǎo，也yě没有méiyǒu下雨xiàyǔ。

By the afternoon, the weather had gradually improved, and it hadn't rained after all.

同事tóngshì往wǎng外面wàimiàn看了看kànlekàn，说shuō：“没想到méixiǎngdào今天jīntiān真的zhēnde没méi下雨xiàyǔ。”

My colleague glanced outside and said: "I didn't expect it really wouldn't rain today."

我们wǒmen到dào了le，比赛bǐsài正好zhènghǎo开始kāishǐ。

We arrived, and the match was just starting.

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

不一定bù yídìngnot necessarily

阴yīnovercast; cloudy

天气预报tiānqì yùbàoweather forecast

大雨dàyǔheavy rain

没想到méixiǎngdàounexpectedly; didn't expect

变好biànhǎoto improve; to get better

不一定 (not necessarily)

不一定 says something isn't certain or doesn't always hold — a mild way to disagree with someone's absolute claim.

不一定，天气预报有时候也会错。— Not necessarily, the weather forecast is sometimes wrong too.

到了 + time word (by the time X came)

到了 followed by a time word marks reaching that point in time, often to introduce a change that happened by then.

到了下午，天气慢慢变好，也没有下雨。— By the afternoon, the weather had gradually improved, and it hadn't rained after all.

没想到 (unexpectedly)

没想到 introduces something that turned out differently from what was expected.

没想到今天真的没下雨。— I didn't expect it really wouldn't rain today.

1. What does the colleague predict in the morning?

2. How does the narrator respond to the prediction?

3. What actually happens by the afternoon?

After this reading

I'm Fei, and I teach Mandarin one-on-one on Preply. Bring this text to a trial lesson — we'll fix your tones and turn it into a real conversation.