bat1 zi3 jyu1不至於不至于
Jyutpingbat1 zi3 jyu1
Yalebāt ji yū
Definition
Not to the extent of; to not go so far as to.
colloquialdescriptions
How it's used
Use this to soften a negative assessment or to argue that a situation is not as extreme as someone else might fear. It functions as a way to set a boundary on how bad or how intense a specific scenario really is. It is often paired with a contrastive conjunction like 但係 or 雖然 to highlight the gap between the current state and the extreme outcome being dismissed.
Related words
Common phrases
not to the extent of being that exaggerated
Common mistake
Learners often mistake this for a simple negation of a verb, but it specifically describes the degree or severity of a situation. It cannot be used to negate simple actions like 'I am not going' or 'I did not eat'.
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
