bù​zhōng​tiān​nián

to die before one's time

  1. adverb
    not
    Negative adverb used before verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs to indicate negation; also used as a bound-form prefix to form terms with opposite meanings
  2. zhōng adverbadjective
    end
    (bound form) end; finish; the final stage or conclusion of something, opposite of shǐ
  3. natural life span
    one's natural life span; the period of time a person is naturally expected to live