Chinese symbol for “cannot”
不能
bù néng
cannot; must not; should not
The closest CC-CEDICT match for cannot is 不能 (bù néng), defined as: cannot; must not; should not.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “cannot”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不可 | bù kě | cannot; should not; must not |
| 未能 | wèi néng | cannot; to fail to |
| 不得 | bù dé | must not; may not |
| 不足 | bù zú | insufficient; lacking |
| 不容 | bù róng | must not; cannot |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 不能.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不是 | bù shì | no; is not |
| 不会 (不會) | bù huì | improbable; unlikely |
| 不过 (不過) | bù guò | only; merely |
| 不同 | bù tóng | different; distinct |
| 可能 | kě néng | might (happen); possible |
| 能够 (能夠) | néng gòu | to be capable of; to be able to |
| 能力 | néng lì | capability; ability |
| 才能 | cái néng | talent; ability |
See also: Japanese symbol for “cannot”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.