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不及 (bù jí) — not as good as; to fall short of; to be inferior to

Definition

不及 is a formal/written 'not as good as / inferior to,' used especially in comparisons of level, quality, or performance. Stronger than 不如 in register; unlike 不够 it judges quality rather than quantity.

verb
not as good asto fall short ofto be inferior to

Examples

  • 不及。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de kōng qì zhì liàng bù jí yǐ qián.
    The air quality in this city is not as good as before.
  • 不及。
    Tā de yīng yǔ shuǐ píng bù jí wǒ gāo.
    His English level is not as high as mine.
  • 不及。
    Gōng sī jīn nián de lì rùn bù jí qù nián.
    The company's profit this year falls short of last year's.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不bùnot
及jíreach

不 gives not, and 及 gives reach, so it means to fall short of.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

及 pairs 人 (person) with 又 (hand), showing a hand grabbing a person.

Open 及 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Comparison & Degree

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