HSK 4 · Verbs

来得及 láidejí “to have enough time” in Chinese

Traditional 來得及

What 来得及 means

  1. to have enough time
  2. can do it in time
  3. can still make it

How to say 来得及

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale来lái2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own得deneutral tone, light and short
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale及jí2nd tone, rising

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

来得及 in a sentence

  1. 我们来得及。

    Wǒmen láidejí.

    We’ve still got time.

    Sentence #398140 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 五点钟，你的信赶快投进去还来得及。

    Wǔ diǎnzhōng, nǐ de xìn gǎnkuài tóu jìnqù hái láidejí.

    It’s five o’clock — if you post your letter quickly, it’ll still make it.

    Sentence #420550 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 来得及 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 来 (lái) with each of its parts in a different colour
来láito come
  • 未part of the character
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā

Memory aidDrawn from a stalk of wheat. It was borrowed early on for “to come”.

The character 得 (de) with each of its parts in a different colour
得destructural particle: used after a verb
  • 彳step · chì
  • 旦dawn · dàn
  • 寸inch · cùn

Memory aidA hand 寸 picking up a shell, once used as money, while out on the road 彳: to get.

The character 及 (jí) drawn as one shape
及jíand

及 is a single shape of 3 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 来得及

来 7 strokes · 得 11 strokes · 及 3 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

来得及 (láidejí) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 来得及 (láidejí). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 来得及

Words with 来

来lái · to come出来chūlái · to come out过来guòlái · to come over回来huílai · to return进来jìnlái · to come in上来shànglái · to come up下来xiàlai · to come down后来hòulái · afterwards起来qǐlai · beginning or continuing an action带来dàilái · to bring (about)

Words with 得

得de · particle linking a verb to how it is done (e.g. 跑得快觉得juéde · to feel记得jìde · remember得到dédào · to get得分défēn · to score (points)懂得dǒngde · to understand认得rènde · to recognise获得huòdé · to obtain得意déyì · proud of oneself值得zhíde · to be worth

Words with 及

及时jíshí · timely来不及láibují · not enough time (to do something)及格jígé · to pass an exam or a test以及yǐjí · and及早jízǎo · as early as possible普及pǔjí · to popularise涉及shèjí · to involve迫不及待pòbùjídài · too impatient to wait力所能及lìsuǒnéngjí · within one’s ability

More words: Common Verbs

肯定kěndìng · to be certain困kùn · to trap拉lā · to pull来不及láibují · not enough time (to do something)来自láizì · to come from (a place)浪费làngfèi · to waste理发lǐfà · to get a haircut连lián · even (连…都/也)

FAQs

来得及 (láidejí) means “to have enough time” or “can do it in time”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it láidejí: lái with a 2nd tone, then de with a neutral tone, then jí with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 来得及 is written 來得及. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type laideji with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 来得及 from the suggestions. Typing laideji into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
来得及 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.