How to say “shortcoming” in Chinese
shortcoming; be insufficient
“Shortcoming” in Chinese is 不足, bù zú: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
不足 is read bù zú: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
Before a fourth tone it is read bú: 不是 bú shì.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “不足”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 不足. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 夏天用电多电力常常不足xiàtiānyòngdiànduō,diànlìchángchángbùzúIn summer people use a lot of electricity, and there's often not enough power.
More words from the lesson “Strengths and weaknesses”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “shortcoming” in Chinese?
“Shortcoming” in Chinese is 不足, pinyin bùzú.
What does 不足 mean?
不足 (bùzú) means “shortcoming; be insufficient”.
How do you write 不足?
不足 is 2 characters: 不 (bù) — not, no; 足 (zú) — leg, foot. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 不足?
不足 is read bùzú. Tones: bù — fourth tone, zú — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“shortcoming” in the lesson “Strengths and weaknesses”
This word is from the topic “The good and the bad” of HSK 5. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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