不至于 búzhìyú unlikely to go so far as to
unlikely to go so far as to; not as bad as
How to remember 不至于: 不 not + 至 until + 于 at = unlikely to go so far as to.
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How it is used
- 'It won't go so far as to, it's not that bad' - 不至于吧 (búzhìyú ba) surely it won't come to that; 不至于饿死 (búzhìyú èsǐ) it won't get bad enough to starve.
- Dismisses an exaggerated worst case as unlikely; often stands alone as a reassuring 不至于.
- 至于 alone means 'to reach the point of'; the negation says the situation stops short of that extreme.