从不
cóngbù · HSK 6
never
🚫 从 (follow) + 不 (not) = never follows = never
从 means follow or from; 不 negates. Together 'not ever following/from any point' yields the sense of never. Common adverb placed before verbs to negate habitual action.
从 — two 人 (person) figures, one following the other
从 is a pictographic compound showing one person walking behind another, vividly depicting the act of following. The original meaning 'to follow' was extended to 'from' (the starting point one follows out of) and 'to obey'. The traditional form 從 added 辵 (movement) and 止 (foot) to reinforce the walking sense.
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.