# 不客气 / 别客气



## anialuo

Hello, I've been wondering what's the difference between 不客气and别客气。
When answering to 谢谢，they are interchangeable, is that right?


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## verastar

I'd say both mean the same thing. 别客气 sounds more oral to me.
And in the following circumstances for, 别客气 can be used but 不客气 would be sound weird:
Your friend offered to drive you to the airport, but you refused cause it would trouble him. If he insisted and tried to persuade you, he might say "别客气". It means you are too polite, driving you to the airport is nothing.
But the two sentences are totally interchangeable when answering 谢谢.


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## anarchicdye

When you're responding to 謝謝, 不客氣 and 別客氣 are more or less interchangeable. However, since 客氣 per se means "polite", 別客氣 can sorta be seen as an abbreviated form of 別跟我客氣 (You don't have to be so polite with me). For example,

*A: 我幫你提行李吧，看起來很重。
B: 不用不用，我自己提得來。
A: 別跟我客氣，還是讓我來吧。*


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## brofeelgood

I've always considered 不客气 a contraction of 不用客气, where 客气 is a verb  meaning "stand on ceremony", so...
不用客气 = No need to stand on ceremony

In the context above, even though 不客气 isn't appropriate, 不用客气 fits just fine, 
e.g. 不用跟我客气,还是让我来吧.


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## BODYholic

anialuo said:


> Hello, I've been wondering what's the difference between 不客气and别客气。
> When answering to 谢谢，they are interchangeable, is that right?



If you request someone not to stand on ceremony, both 不客气 and 别客气 work just fine.

On the other hand, if the speaker is making a declaration, most of time it would be  "*(那)我*不客气了" and not "*(那)我*别客气了". I won't say this is a golden rule as there might be situations where "...*我*别客气.." is called for.


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## Skatinginbc

anialuo said:


> what's the difference between 不客气and别客气


他很不客气 "He was very rude" vs. *他很别客气
他真不客气 "He was truly rude" vs. *他真别客气
对我不客气 "[He] was rude to me" vs. 对我别客气 "Don't stand on ceremony when dealing with me."


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## Ali Smith

Is it true that in 别客气, 气 is always pronounced with the fourth tone, while in 不客气 it is usually pronounced with a neutral tone (but can be pronounced with the fourth tone)?


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## yuechu

Ali Smith said:


> Is it true that in 别客气, 气 is always pronounced with the fourth tone, while in 不客气 it is usually pronounced with a neutral tone (but can be pronounced with the fourth tone)?


I think that in Mainland Mandarin, 气 is pronounced with the neutral tone in both cases. I'm not sure about Taiwanese Mandarin though! (especially since the neutral tone seems less common there)


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## Techref

不用谢

also ok.


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## albert_laosong

Yes, neutral tone in both cases in Mainland Mandarin.


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## Ali Smith

Thank you, but would it be considered wrong if I used the fourth tone in both cases (别客气 and 不客气)?


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## albert_laosong

It wouldn't be wrong, and on second thought, I think maybe many or even most people(I'm not sure as I live in the north) in the south of China may use the 4th tone.


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## SimonTsai

You can pronounce it with whichever of the two that you prefer, when replying to '_thank you_'. Both are accepted. (I tend to pronounce it with the neutral tone but have heard many people around me pronounce it with the fourth.)


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