不要【búyào】

不要 before a verb tells someone not to do something. As in English, the "you" is often left out.

别 means the same as 不要 and is shorter. It's what you'll hear most in speech.

Stop: 不要…了

With 了 at the end, it asks someone to stop something they're already doing.

请不要

请不要 is the polite form, used on signs and in requests to strangers.

Not wanting

Before a noun, 不要 refuses something: "I don't want it".

Before a verb with 我 as subject, 不要 sounds like a stubborn refusal: 我不要去 is "I'm not going!". To say you don't feel like doing something, use 不想.

• × 我不要吃 (meaning "I don't feel like eating") → 我不想吃