不够 meaning in English

bùgòu

not enough; insufficient

HSK 2verbadverbTraditional 不夠15 strokes

Meaning of 不够

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

bùgòu

not enough
insufficient
inadequate

How to use 不够

不够 can stand alone as a verb meaning something is insufficient, or come before an adjective to mean "not ... enough." Example: 钱不够。(Qián bú gòu.) There isn't enough money. You can also say 不够好 (bú gòu hǎo), not good enough.

不够 is simply 不 (bù, not) plus 够 (gòu, enough). Think of 够 as a full measure, and 不 cancels it, so you get "not enough."

Common mistake: Because 够 is fourth tone, 不 changes to second tone, so say bú gòu, not bù gòu. Also, learners often put the adjective first as in English, saying 好不够, but the correct order is 不够好.

不够 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

总zǒng是shì觉jué得de时shí间jiān不bù够gòu用yòng。

I always feel that there isn't enough time.

他tā的de现xiàn金jīn总zǒng是shì不bù够gòu用yòng。

He's always running short of cash.

问wèn题tí是shì我wǒ们men钱qián不bù够gòu。

The trouble is that we do not have enough money.

做zuò好hǎo事shì是shì不bù够gòu的de，还hái必bì须xū做zuò得de很hěn好hǎo。

It is not enough to do good; one must also do it well.

一yī种zhǒng语yǔ言yán是shì永yǒng远yuǎn不bù够gòu的de。

One language is never enough.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

不 bù · no · 4 strokes

够 gòu · enough · 11 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 不够.

对不起	duìbuqǐ	I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint
是不是	shì bu shì	is or is not (used to form yes-no questions)
不用	bùyòng	need not
不大	bù dà	not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently
不对	bùduì	incorrect; wrong
不客气	bù kèqì	you're welcome; don't mention it
不要	bùyào	don't!; must not
不过	bùguò	only; merely
不错	bùcuò	correct; right
不行	bùxíng	won't do; be out of the question
不同	bù tóng	different; distinct
不好意思	bù hǎoyìsi	to feel embarrassed; to find it embarrassing

Questions about 不够

What does 不够 mean?

不够 (bùgòu) means "not enough; insufficient" and is used as a verb and adverb.

How do you write 不够?

不够 is made of 2 characters: 不 (4 strokes), 够 (11 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.

Is 不够 an HSK word?

Yes. 不够 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 不够 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 不够 is written 不夠.

What is the difference between 不够 and 不足?

不够 is the everyday spoken choice, as in 时间不够 (shíjiān bú gòu), not enough time. 不足 (bùzú) means the same but sounds more formal and appears more in writing.

How do I say "enough" in the positive?

Just use 够 by itself, often with 了: 够了 (gòu le) means "that's enough." To ask if something is enough, say 够不够? (gòu bu gòu?).