Kilo Lingo

(bú gòu) - not enough, insufficient in Mandarin

gòu

Traditional: 不夠

Line drawing of 不够
Coloured illustration of 不够
HSK 3
#833 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

not enough, insufficient

Word origin

A two-character expression: 不 'not' plus 够 'enough' (which pairs 多 'many' with 句 jù as phonetic). Together 不够 means not enough or insufficient.

Origin
compound
Root
不 (not) + 够 (多 many + 句 jù phonetic)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 不

Stroke order for 够

Examples

There is not enough time.

I don't have enough money to buy this.

You haven't eaten enough.

There is not enough time.

I do not have enough money to buy it.

不够 (bú gòu) means not enough, insufficient. It is used as an adjective in everyday Mandarin speech.

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This word is part of lesson 17.