不足

Meaning(verb, nominal adjective, adjective)

insufficient; lacking; deficiency; not enough; inadequate; not worth; cannot; should not

Examples

• 你的余额不足，请充值。

  nǐ de yú é bù zú, qǐng chōng zhí.

  Your balance is insufficient; please top up.

• 参加的人不足二十个。

  cān jiā de rén bù zú èr shí gè.

  Fewer than twenty people took part.

• 每个人都有自己的不足。

  měi gè rén dōu yǒu zì jǐ de bù zú.

  Everyone has their shortcomings.

Easily confused

• 不够 — 不足 is formal, can be a noun (shortcoming) or precede a number (不足十人); 不够 is the colloquial 'not enough'.

Written with AI, waiting for a teacher's review.