向来(xiànglái) vs 从来(cónglái) vs 总是(zǒngshì) vs 老是(lǎoshì)

They don't mean always.

向来 = all along, e.g. "我一向來都不愛貓的,但是當我家領養了一隻,我開始喜歡貓。" (I've disliked cats all along, but when my family adopted one, I started to like cats.)

從來 = never, e.g. "我上班的時候從來不會乘火車,只會乘巴士。" (Whenever I go to work, I never take the train, only the bus.)

總是 = always (in terms of a result), e.g. 1) "他總是會遲到。" (He's always late.) 2) "孩子總是不喜歡吃蔬菜。" (Children never like eating vegetables.).

The implication of these sentences is 1) because he's him, he's always late and 2) because they're children, they never like to eat vegetables.

老是 = always, e.g. 1) "他老是說別人的壞話。" (He always talks bad about other people.) 2) "我英語老是沒有進步。" (My English has never improved.)

In 2), the English version is better translated as 'never', because 'always never' is really clunky, and always and never are antonyms anyway.

/r/ChineseLanguage Thread