Chinese word

从不

Pronunciation

Pinyincóng bù

Meaning

  • adverbnever

Example

我从不喝酒。wǒ cóng bù hē jiǔ

I never drink alcohol.

Illustration for 从不 (never)

More examples

她从不抱怨工作。tā cóng bú bào yuàn gōng zuò

She never complains about work.

Core concept

A habit or experience stays at zero throughout the relevant time.

Common phrases

  • 从不放弃cóng bú fàng qì

    never give up

  • 从不抱怨cóng bú bào yuàn

    never complain

  • 从不忘记cóng bú wàng jì

    never forget

Similar words

从来不cóng lái bù: Describes a continuing pattern of never doing something from an earlier time until now.
从没cóng méi: Gives a short, conversational way to say that something has never been done.
从未cóng wèi: Expresses in a formal written style that something has never happened in the past.
绝不jué bù: Expresses a strong decision that something will absolutely not happen in the future.

Definition in Chinese

表示在任何时间都没有发生某事，强调次数为零的否定副词。biǎo shì zài rèn hé shí jiān dōu méi yǒu fā shēng mǒu shì qiáng diào cì shù wèi líng de fǒu dìng fù cí

Word origin

从不 (cóngbù, "never") combines 从 (cóng, "from") with 不 (bù, "not") to mark an action as absent across the whole time span.

Usage tips

  • English often places a negative frequency word after an auxiliary, but Chinese normally places this adverb before the main verb, creating a useful subject-plus-adverb-plus-verb pattern.

Opposites

Word lists with this word