Level 5 · Advanced
Not necessarily: 未必 / 不见得
Subj. + 未必 / 不见得 + Verb Phrase · Traditional: Subj. + 未必 / 不見得 + Verb Phrase
未必 (wèibì) and 不见得 (bùjiànde) both mean "not necessarily" — they don't deny a claim outright, they just take the air out of it: 贵的东西未必好 "expensive doesn't necessarily mean good."
不见得 is the more conversational of the two and is especially common as a standalone comeback: 不见得吧 "I wouldn't be so sure." Both equal 不一定 — careful not to read them as 一定不 ("definitely not"), which is a much stronger claim.
Examples
贵的东西未必好。
貴的東西未必好。
guì de dōng xi wèi bì hǎo
Expensive things aren't necessarily good.
你现在去，未必能见到他。
你現在去，未必能見到他。
nǐ xiàn zài qù wèi bì néng jiàn dào tā
Even if you go now, there's no guarantee you'll see him.
他说的话不见得是真的。
他說的話不見得是真的。
tā shuō de huà bù jiàn de shì zhēn de
What he says isn't necessarily true.
大家都喜欢的电影，我不见得喜欢。
大家都喜歡的電影，我不見得喜歡。
dà jiā dōu xǐ huan de diàn yǐng wǒ bù jiàn de xǐ huan
A movie everyone loves isn't necessarily one I'll love.
Common mistakes
✗ 他未必来，别等了，他肯定不来。
✓ 他未必来，我们再等十分钟就走吧。
未必 = 不一定 ("maybe not"), not 一定不 ("definitely not") — it leaves the door open.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like Pictures vs. Reality (Part 2) inside the Literate Chinese app.
