点餐 · At the table
4 of 6
casual
不要辣
búyàolà
No chili / not spicy
Sounds roughly like boo yow lah
As spoken
不 becomes bú before a 4th tone. 不要 is always bú yào in real speech.
Literal meaning
不
bú
not
要
yào
want
辣
là
spicy
not · want · spicy
How to pronounce it
- 不
bú
bu2
22nd · rising不 rises before a 4th tone. So: bú, not bù.
- 要
yào
yao4
44th · fallingFall on “yow”. 不要 is “I don’t want…”.
- 辣
là
la4
44th · fallingl + ah, fall. Say it clearly — this is the line that saves your mouth.
In real life
我不要辣，谢谢。
Wǒ bú yào là, xièxie.
I don’t want it spicy — thanks.