没关系 (méi guānxi): it doesn't matter, not related

800 words (~ 12 minutes)

The Chinese phrase 没关系 (méi guānxi) literally means “it has no relation”. It’s very commonly used to express “it doesn’t matter” or “it’s not important”, and you’re likely to hear it every day in China.

The other, slightly less common use of 没关系 is to express that something is not related to something else. These slightly different meanings have different usage patterns.

Note that the 系 (xi) in 没关系 is neutral tone, despite it being fourth tone in other words like 系统 xìtǒng (‘system’).

没关系: it doesn’t matter

This is the most common use of 没关系, and it’s very similar to “it doesn’t matter” or “never mind” in English. The phrase can be used directly on its own, for example in this exchange:

A: 我来晚了，真对不起。

Wǒ lái wǎnle, zhēn duìbùqǐ.

I'm so sorry I'm late.

B: 没关系。

Méi guānxi.

It doesn't matter.

The phrase might also be used in situations like these:

没(Méi)关(guān)系(xi)。大(Dà)家(jiā)都(dōu)是(shì)这(zhè)样(yàng)。

沒(Méi)關(guān)係(xi)。大(Dà)家(jiā)都(dōu)是(shì)這(zhè)樣(yàng)。

ㄇㄟˊ ㄍㄨㄢ ˙ㄒㄧ。ㄉㄚˋ ㄐㄧㄚㄉㄡㄕˋ ㄓㄜˋ ㄧㄤˋ。

It doesn't matter. Everyone does it.

我(Wǒ)用(yòng)铅(qiān)笔(bǐ)写(xiě)没(méi)关(guān)系(xi)吧(ba)？

我(Wǒ)用(yòng)鉛(qiān)筆(bǐ)寫(xiě)沒(méi)關(guān)係(xi)吧(ba)？

ㄨㄛˇ ㄩㄥˋ ㄑㄧㄢㄅㄧˇ ㄒㄧㄝˇ ㄇㄟˊ ㄍㄨㄢ ˙ㄒㄧ ˙ㄅㄚ？

It doesn't matter if I use a pencil, right?

没关系 can also form part of a longer sentence, and is usually placed at the end, following the options or alternatives that don’t matter. Some examples:

多(Duō)少(shǎo)钱(qián)都(dōu)没(méi)关(guān)系(xi)。

多(Duō)少(shǎo)錢(qián)都(dōu)沒(méi)關(guān)係(xi)。

ㄉㄨㄛㄕㄠˇ ㄑㄧㄢˊ ㄉㄡㄇㄟˊ ㄍㄨㄢ ˙ㄒㄧ。

It doesn't matter how much it costs. (Probably best if you don't say this one too much.)

多(Duō)长(cháng)时(shí)间(jiān)都(dōu)没(méi)关(guān)系(xi)。

多(Duō)長(cháng)時(shí)間(jiān)都(dōu)沒(méi)關(guān)係(xi)。

ㄉㄨㄛㄔㄤˊ ㄕˊ ㄐㄧㄢㄉㄡㄇㄟˊ ㄍㄨㄢ ˙ㄒㄧ。

It doesn't matter how long it takes.

他(Tā)们(men)知(zhī)不(bù)知(zhī)道(dào)都(dōu)没(méi)关(guān)系(xi)。

他(Tā)們(men)知(zhī)不(bù)知(zhī)道(dào)都(dōu)沒(méi)關(guān)係(xi)。

ㄊㄚ ˙ㄇㄣㄓㄅㄨˋ ㄓㄉㄠˋ ㄉㄡㄇㄟˊ ㄍㄨㄢ ˙ㄒㄧ。

It doesn't matter if they know or not.

别(Bié)人(ren)怎(zěn)么(me)看(kàn)都(dōu)没(méi)关(guān)系(xi)。

別(Bié)人(ren)怎(zěn)麼(me)看(kàn)都(dōu)沒(méi)關(guān)係(xi)。

ㄅㄧㄝˊ ˙ㄖㄣㄗㄣˇ ˙ㄇㄜㄎㄢˋ ㄉㄡㄇㄟˊ ㄍㄨㄢ ˙ㄒㄧ。

It doesn't matter what other people think.

The main point to note is that 没关系 nearly always comes at the end of such a sentence. First you establish what the issue or options are (the topic), and then comment on them with 没关系.

没关系 can also form part of a structure expressing that there is no relation or link between two things. This is a more literal use of 没关系. The structure is:

[something] 跟 [something else] 没有关系

As usual, you can replace 跟 (gēn) with similar conjunctions like 和 (hé) and 与 (yǔ). Also, the 有 in this structure is optional: you can say 没有 or just 没.

Have a look at some example sentences for this usage of 没关系:

我(Wǒ)跟(gēn)他(tā)完(wán)全(quán)没(méi)有(yǒu)关(guān)系(xi)。

我(Wǒ)跟(gēn)他(tā)完(wán)全(quán)沒(méi)有(yǒu)關(guān)係(xi)。

ㄨㄛˇ ㄍㄣㄊㄚㄨㄢˊ ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄇㄟˊ ㄧㄡˇ ㄍㄨㄢ ˙ㄒㄧ。

I'm totally unrelated to him.

这(Zhè)事(shì)跟(gēn)我(wǒ)一(yì)点(diǎn)也(yě)没(méi)关(guān)系(xi)。

這(Zhè)事(shì)跟(gēn)我(wǒ)一(yì)點(diǎn)也(yě)沒(méi)關(guān)係(xi)。

ㄓㄜˋ ㄕˋ ㄍㄣㄨㄛˇ ㄧˋ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄧㄝˇ ㄇㄟˊ ㄍㄨㄢ ˙ㄒㄧ。

This issue has nothing to do with me.

我(Wǒ)的(de)私(sī)事(shì)和(hé)你(nǐ)没(méi)有(yǒu)关(guān)系(xi)！

我(Wǒ)的(de)私(sī)事(shì)和(hàn)你(nǐ)沒(méi)有(yǒu)關(guān)係(xi)！

ㄨㄛˇ ˙ㄉㄜㄙㄕˋ ㄏㄢˋ ㄋㄧˇ ㄇㄟˊ ㄧㄡˇ ㄍㄨㄢ ˙ㄒㄧ！

My personal matters are none of your business!

As you can see, the two uses of 没关系 are similar but not entirely the same. The first one, “it doesn’t matter”, is quite idiomatic, whilst the second is directly “it is not related”.