不如 (bù rú) — to be not as good as, to be inferior to; it would be better to (used to suggest a preferable action)

Definition

不如 (bù rú) compares two things as 'not as good as,' or introduces a suggestion: 'it would be better to…' For a positive comparison ('just as good as'), use 不亚于 instead.

verb
to be not as good asto be inferior toit would be better to (used to suggest a preferable action)

Examples

  • 不如。
    Wǒ de hàn yǔ bù rú tā de hǎo.
    My Chinese is not as good as his.
  • 不如。
    bù rú Wǒ men zǒu lù qù.
    It would be better to walk there.
  • 不如。
    Jīn tiān de tiān qì bù rú zuó tiān hǎo.
    Today's weather is not as good as yesterday'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
如rúequal to

不 means not and 如 means equal to, so the word means not as good as.

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ如rú
Same sound today

如 is built from 口 (mouth) for its meaning and 女 (woman) for its sound.

Open 如 →

Grammar

Appears in
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