来不及

来不及 láibují

There's not enough time (to do sth); it's too late^†

来不及 in a sentence HSK 4 繁體來不及 laibuji

What 来不及 means

There's not enough time (to do sth); it's too late^†

† Our own dictionary has no entry for 来不及, so these meanings are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG and its contributors and based on CEDICT © 1997, 1998 Paul Andrew Denisowski, and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Character by character

来不及 is written with 3 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

来

lái

Come (arrive)

不

bù

No (not)

及

jí

And (reach - timely)

Words that share a character with 来不及

How to write 来不及

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Practise 来不及 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.

来不及 in a sentence

现在走已经来不及了。

Xiànzài zǒu yǐjīng lái bu jí le.

It is already too late to leave now.

时间太少，我来不及准备。

Shíjiān tài shǎo, wǒ lái bu jí zhǔnbèi.

There is too little time; I cannot get ready in time.

Every sentence on this site that uses 来不及 is collected on the 来不及 sentence page. Want pinyin above a sentence of your own? Paste it into the Pinyin Annotator.

Questions about 来不及

What does 来不及 mean in English?

来不及 is pronounced láibují and means There's not enough time (to do sth); it's too late †.

How do you pronounce 来不及?

来不及 is láibují in pinyin — written laibuji without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.

What are the characters in 来不及?

来不及 is written with 3 characters: 来 (lái) Come (arrive), 不 (bù) No (not), 及 (jí) And (reach - timely). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

How is 来不及 written in traditional Chinese?

來不及. The simplified form 来不及 is used in mainland China and Singapore; 來不及 is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Both are pronounced láibují.

Is 来不及 an HSK word?

Yes — 来不及 is on the official HSK 4 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 4 page.

Studied around the same time

困难 kùnnan 垃圾桶 lājītǒng 拉 lā 辣 là 来得及 láidejí 来自 láizì 懒 lǎn 浪费 làngfèi

Keep going

Translate a whole sentence containing 来不及 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 4, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.

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