未 wèi not yet
How it came to be
A tree with an extra pair of branches drawn at the top: growth that has not finished. It is also a calendar sign, which is why it appears where no tree is.
How it is used
- A formal, written negator meaning "not yet", equivalent to spoken 还没 but higher register - learners often overuse it in casual speech where 没 sounds far more natural.
- 未来 wèilái "future" is the one everyday word that has fully entered spoken Chinese and lost its formal flavor.
- 从未 cóngwèi and 尚未 shàngwèi both mean "never/not yet" and pair with two-syllable verbs in writing - 尚未确定 shàngwèi quèdìng, "not yet determined".
- 未必 wèibì means "not necessarily" and softens a claim: 这未必是好事 zhè wèibì shì hǎoshì, "this isn't necessarily a good thing".