不足 + 数量
fewer than; under; less than
Structure
主语 不足 数字＋量词
What it means
Before a number, 不足 means 'not reaching': fewer than, under, less than. It stresses how small the figure is. (Met in 1-18 as 'insufficient': 睡眠不足.)
How it is built
Subject + 不足 + number + measure word: 乌邦寺的鹿群起初不足二十头 (At first the herd at Woburn numbered fewer than twenty). Also 不足一成, 不足百人, 不足两年.
When to use it
Written and journalistic; in speech 不到 is more usual (不到二十头). The opposite is 不下 (8-6), 'no fewer than'.
Watch out
It goes before the number, not after (✗二十头不足), and takes no 多 or 以上: ✗不足二十多头 ✓不足二十头.
Examples
乌邦寺的鹿群起初不足二十头。
At first the herd at Woburn numbered fewer than twenty.
这个村子常住的人已经不足三百，大多是老人。
Fewer than three hundred people now live in the village all year round, most of them old.
离比赛开始已不足一个小时，队员们还没到齐。
There is less than an hour before the match starts, and the team still isn’t all here.
Learn this in Lesson 166 · HSK 7–9: 麋鹿回家 (The Père David’s deer comes home)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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