不至于

bù zhì yú

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Verb Uncommon

Definitions

1. unlikely to go so far as to; not as bad as

Word relationships

Related words

2 items

• 不一定 bù yī dìng 不一定 bù yī dìng not necessarily It may not necessarily lead to that extreme; softens a negative assumption.: not necessarily
• 不见得 bù jiàn de 不见得 bù jiàn de not necessarily It is not necessarily the case; similar hedging expression.: not necessarily

Synonyms

1 item

• 不致 bù zhì 不致 bù zhì not in such a way as to; not likely to Both mean 'not to the extent that' and are often interchangeable, but 不至于 is more common in spoken Chinese.: not in such a way as to; not likely to

Usage notes

Collocations

Often followed by 吧 in rhetorical questions: 不至于吧？(It can't be that bad, right?)

Common mistakes

Do not use 不至于 to simply mean 'not necessarily'; it specifically implies that a situation won't reach an extreme or serious point.

Example Sentences

1 shown

他只是迟到了， 不至于 被开除吧。

He was just late; it's unlikely to go so far as to get him fired, right?

AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Child Words of 不至于

• 不 不 bù: no; not so
• 于 于 yú: (of time or place) in; at; on
• 至 至 zhì: to arrive
• 至于 至于 zhì yú: as for