Chinese word

不曾

Pronunciation

Pinyinbù céng

Meaning

  • adverbnever

Example

我不曾去过日本。wǒ bù céng qù guò rì běn

I have never been to Japan.

Illustration for 不曾 (never)

More examples

我不曾见过那么大的城市。wǒ bù céng jiàn guò nà me dà de chéng shì

I have never seen such a big city.

Core concept

Marks an action as absent from the past, presenting it as something that has not occurred at any time up to now.

Common phrases

  • 不曾见过bù céng jiàn guò

    never seen

  • 不曾想过bù céng xiǎng guò

    never considered

  • 不曾有过bù céng yǒu guò

    never had

Similar words

从未cóng wèi: Shows that an action or experience has never occurred at any point up to now.
从来没有cóng lái méi yǒu: States in common speech that something has never happened or been experienced up to now.
从不cóng bù: Describes a continuing habit of never doing something.

Definition in Chinese

用于否定过去的经验，表示“从未发生过”，典型搭配为“不曾+动词(+过)”，多见于书面或正式语境。yòng yú fǒu dìng guò qù de jīng yàn biǎo shì cóng wèi fā shēng guò diǎn xíng dā pèi wèi bù céng dòng cí guò duō jiàn yú shū miàn huò zhèng shì yǔ jìng

Word origin

不曾 (bùcéng, "never") combines 不 (bù, "not") with 曾 (céng, "once in the past"), so it frames a past occurrence as having no instance.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, this form often sounds formal or literary, so a simpler negative pattern usually sounds more natural in casual speech.

Other meanings

  • not yetadverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word