不至于

不至於

bùzhìyú

adverb HSK 6 #6,915

Meanings

1 unlikely to go so far as to; not as bad as
2 it won't come to that; surely not to the point of

Characters

to arrive; to reach; to the point of

at; to; in (literary preposition)

Won't reach the point of - it shouldn't be that extreme.

Examples

HSK 3

他不至于做出这种事来。

Tā bùzhìyú zuòchū zhèzhǒng shì lái.

He wouldn't go so far as to do something like that.

HSK 4

不至于吧？没那么严重。

Bùzhìyú ba? Méi nàme yánzhòng.

Surely it's not that bad? It's not that serious.

HSK 7-9

迟到了五分钟，不至于被开除吧？

Chídào le wǔ fēnzhōng, bùzhìyú bèi kāichú ba?

I was five minutes late - surely I won't be fired?

Tips

usage

不至于 is used to downplay a situation or express disbelief that something could be that extreme. It often appears in questions (不至于吧？) to seek reassurance that things aren't as bad as feared.

grammar

Pattern: 不至于 + verb phrase. It negates the possibility of reaching an extreme outcome. Often used with 吧 for rhetorical effect.

Stroke Order

不 bù

至 zhì

于 yú