The expressions that Chinese like to use to express “I don’t care!”

I can’t remember how many times in a day my preteen daughter would use her favorite line – “I don’t care!” to answer my questions, or give comment on about anything, but I do remember how many times that line of her is happily received in my ear: ZERO! However, that does make me think that does the equivalent expression of “I don’t care!” in Chinese is used as often as it in English?

 

Honestly, I don’t feel like so. In mandarin, there are quite a few common ways to say “I don’t care!” But I can’t think of one as predominantly used as “I don’t care.” in English. Regardless, it is for sure a very useful expression for Chinese learners to grasp. The first one that pops out of my head is “管他呢 guǎn tā ne!”

 

For example,

 

    ” wǒmen zhèyàng zuò tā huì bù gāoxìng de。”

    “我们这样做她会不高兴的。”

    

    ” guǎn tā ne!”

    “管他呢!”

    

    “She will not be happy if we do so.”

    “I don’t care!”

 

“管他呢 guǎn tā ne!” stresses that you are truly NOT care. The tone is rather indifferent.

 

You can also say:”我不在乎 wǒ bùzàihu。” This expression is softer. In some cases, it implies that you might actually care, but pretend to be “not care”.

Another expression you can use to say “I don’t care.” is “无所谓 wúsuǒwèi。” This expression does not carry any emotion element. It simply means “To me it really doesn’t matter at all.”