不及

bùjí

verb #22,093

Meanings

1 to fall short of
2 not as good as
3 not up to
4 too late (to do something)

Characters

to reach, to attain, to be in time for

Examples

HSK 2

他的中文水平不及她。

Tā de Zhōngwén shuǐpíng bùjí tā.

His Chinese level doesn't measure up to hers.

HSK 2

百闻不如一见，千见不及一试。

Bǎi wén bùrú yī jiàn, qiān jiàn bùjí yī shì.

Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once; seeing a thousand times falls short of trying once.

HSK 7-9

事情来得太突然，措手不及。

Shìqing lái de tài tūrán, cuòshǒu-bùjí.

Things came too suddenly - he was caught off guard.

Tips

grammar

不及 has two main uses: (1) comparison - 'not as good as' (不及 between A and B); (2) timing - 'too late to' (来不及). The idiom 措手不及 (caught off guard) is a common fixed expression.

Stroke Order

不 bù

及 jí