A2 · Grammar reference · ASGUNMHU
Expressing "not very" with "bu tai"
You may be familiar with using 太 (tài) to express "too," such as when something is "too expensive" or "too hot." 不太 (bù tài) is a similar pattern for the negative, which just means "not very" or "not so" (literally "not too"). Note that this pattern does not normally use 了 (le).
- Keywords
- 太 · 不 · not · too
- Used for
- Adding more explanation
- Classification
- Adverbs with Adjectives · HSK1
Examples (10)
我家不太大。
那个地方不太远。
老板今天不太高兴。
这个店的衣服不太贵。
我觉得他不太聪明。
我不太懂。
我不太会说英语。
他们不太想去。
我哥哥不太喜欢他的工作。
他不太明白老板的意思。
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Summary, structure, classification, and adapted sentence examples draw from the AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; changes were made. This noncommercial reference is based on an October 2023 snapshot.
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