Chinese word

来不及

Pronunciation

Pinyinlái bù jí

Meaning

  • verbnot have time to

Example

我来不及吃早饭了。wǒ lái bù jí chī zǎo fàn le

I don't have time to eat breakfast now.

Illustration for 来不及 (not have time to)

More examples

他收到消息时已经太晚，来不及道歉。tā shōu dào xiāo xī shí yǐ jīng tài wǎn lái bù jí dào qiàn

By the time he received the message, it was already too late for him to apologize.

Core concept

The time for an action runs out before the action can happen.

Common phrases

  • 来不及吃早饭lái bù jí chī zǎo fàn

    be too late to eat breakfast

  • 来不及准备lái bù jí zhǔn bèi

    be too late to prepare

  • 来不及道歉lái bù jí dào qiàn

    be too late to apologize

Similar words

赶不上gǎn bú shàng: Be unable to catch up with someone or catch a departing vehicle.
错过cuò guò: Fail to catch a chance, ride, or appointment before it passes.
迟到chí dào: Reach a scheduled place after the expected arrival time.

Definition in Chinese

到达或开始得太晚，不能赶上预定的时间或机会。dào dá huò kāi shǐ de tài wǎn bù néng gǎn shàng yù dìng de shí jiān huò jī huì

Word origin

来 (lái, "come") + 不 (bù, "not") + 及 (jí, "reach") forms the idea of failing to reach the needed time, which gives the word its sense of missing an available moment.

Usage tips

  • English often describes the speaker's lack of time, while Chinese frames the action as unable to reach its time, so the word commonly comes before another verb.

Other meanings

  • be too late toadjective

Opposites

Word lists with this word