不起

Chinese

		not; no	to rise; to raise; to get up
trad. (不起)		不	起
simp. #(不起)		不	起

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùqǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄑㄧˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ hei²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùqǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄑㄧˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùcǐ
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-chʻi³
    • Yale: bù-chǐ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buchii
    • Palladius: буци (buci)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ t͡ɕʰi²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ hei²
    • Yale: bāt héi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ hei²
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ héi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ hei̯³⁵/

Particle

不起

1. (used after verbs) cannot afford to ...

   買不起／买不起  ―  mǎi bùqǐ  ―  too expensive to buy

   玩不起  ―  wán bùqǐ  ―  cannot afford to be played

   牙醫貴到我都看不起了。 [MSC, trad.]
   牙医贵到我都看不起了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Yáyī guì dào wǒ dōu kàn bùqǐ le. [Pinyin]

   Dentists are so expensive that I can't afford to go to visit.

   對不起／对不起  ―  duìbùqǐ  ―  cannot afford to face [the other party] [due to shame] → sorry

2. (used after verbs) do not wish to ... (in contempt)

   看不起  ―  kànbùqǐ  ―  to look down upon

Verb

不起

1. (literary) to be unable to get up (e.g. to sickness)

See also

• (Cantonese) 唔起 (m4 hei2), 唔住 (m4 zyu6)

Derived terms

• 了不起 (liǎobùqǐ)
• 傷不起 / 伤不起 (shāngbùqǐ)
• 對不起 / 对不起 (duìbùqǐ)
• 惹不起 (rěbùqǐ)
• 當不起 / 当不起 (dāngbuqǐ)
• 看不起 (kànbuqǐ)
• 瞧不起 (qiáobuqǐ)
• 禁不起 (jīnbùqǐ)
• 經不起 / 经不起 (jīngbùqǐ)
• 臥床不起 / 卧床不起 (wòchuángbùqǐ)