Definitions
(adverb)
not; no
Etymology
Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.
About
The character 不 has served as a fundamental negative adverb in Chinese since its earliest recorded use, with its form deriving from an archaic pictograph suggesting prohibition or denial. Structurally, the modern glyph is a monolithic entity with no decomposable phonetic or semantic components in either its traditional or simplified manifestations, as it remains unchanged. Etymological analysis indicates it was initially a loan character for negation, and while its application has broadened within syntactic constraints, its essential function of expressing negation has persisted without substantive shift from classical to modern Chinese.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
这不是我的书。
我不知道答案。
她不喝咖啡。
今天不会下雨。
我们不应该迟到。
他不同意我的观点。
如果不努力，就不会成功。
尽管遇到了困难，他从不放弃。