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不宜 (bù yí) — not suitable; inadvisable; inappropriate

Definition

不宜 (bù yí) means something is not advisable — often a soft recommendation ('better not to'), gentler and more advisory than 不当 ('improper/wrong'). It commonly appears before an action, like 不宜出门.

verb
not suitableinadvisableinappropriate

Examples

  • 不宜。
    Zhè zhǒng tiān qì bù yí chū mén yùn dòng.
    This weather is not suitable for going out to exercise.
  • 不宜。
    Fàn hòu bù yí lì kè xǐ zǎo.
    It is inadvisable to take a shower immediately after meals.
  • ，不宜。
    Tā yǐ jīng tuì xiū le, bù yí zài chéng dān tài duō gōng zuò.
    He has already retired; it's inappropriate for him to take on too much work.

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
宜yísuitable

不 negates 宜, which means suitable or appropriate, so it means not suitable or inadvisable.

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.

宜 shows 且, a sacrificial altar, with 多, two pieces of meat, depicting two pieces of meat placed on the altar.

Open 宜 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Good & Bad

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