"something 不上" means?
bingkk32
May 11, 2009, 04:22 PM posted in General Discussione.g. 跟不上 - can't keep up
赶不上 - can't catch up
Does "不上" in the pattern "(verb)不上" simply mean "unable to (verb)"?
If so, can "不上" be used with any verb?
e.g. Wor chang bu shang zhe shou ge (I can't sing this song)
thank you!
andy2222
September 09, 2009, 02:48 PMhi, bingkk32, in fact, 跟不上 and 赶不上 are very similar in chinese, and almost in all cases, they can replace each other. more specifically, we often use them together with 脚步 or 节奏，like跟不上（赶不上）某人的节奏（脚步），which means can not catch up with somebody`s foot or tempo.
and 不上 is not used so often, it is only right in a few cases, and what i mentioned above is the most frequent way it uses.
我唱不上这首歌 means i can not sing so high a song or i do not know how to sing this song.and franklly speaking, we rarely express this idea in this way. we often say 我不会唱这首歌 or 我唱不起这首歌。
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