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

不至于吧？没那么严重。

Bù zhì yú ba? Méi nàme yánzhòng.

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

他不至于做出这种事来。

Tā bù zhì yú zuò chū zhè zhǒng shì lái.

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

迟到了五分钟，不至于被开除吧？

Chídào le wǔ fēnzhōng, bù zhì yú bèi kāichú ba?

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

虽然不容易，但不至于做不到。

Suīrán bù róngyì, dàn bù zhì yú zuò bú dào.

Although it's not easy, it's not impossible.

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