顾不上…
to have no time or attention left for; cannot see to
Structure
（忙着／为了…，）主语 顾不上 名词／动词短语
What it means
To have no time or attention left for something, because something else takes it all. 顾 is “to attend to”; 不上 says you can’t get round to it.
How it is built
(忙着／为了…，) subject + 顾不上 + noun or verb phrase: 事情太多了，他连饭都顾不上吃 (he had so much to do he didn’t even have time to eat). With a noun: 顾不上家.
When to use it
连…都顾不上 stresses how basic the neglected thing is. For a single occasion say 没顾上: 今天没顾上吃午饭. The positive 顾得上 appears mostly in questions: 哪儿顾得上…？
Watch out
Don’t mix it up with 顾不得, used especially for setting a worry or scruple aside: 顾不得危险, 顾不得面子 (heedless of danger, of face). 顾不上 is about lacking time or attention.
Examples
她忙着照顾别人家的孩子，却顾不上自己的孩子。
She was busy caring for other people’s children and had nothing left for her own.
事情太多了，他连饭都顾不上吃。
He had so much to do that he did not even have time to eat.
救人要紧，别的先顾不上了。
Saving lives comes first; everything else will have to wait.
Learn this in Lesson 134 · HSK 7–9: 家政阿姨与月嫂 (Housekeepers and maternity nurses)
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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