不至於 — Denies that things go so far as the bad or extreme case named after it: it may be heading that way, but it does not reach that point.

grammar → 不至於

TSUMUGU · TBCL 5 (est.) · 語法

不至於 grammar point · tier 1 · 不至於 won't go so far as to (stops short of the extreme)

Denies that things go so far as the bad or extreme case named after it: it may be heading that way, but it does not reach that point.

字源 FORM what the parts do

至 drops something onto the ground line (一) and stops it there — arrived, gone as far as it goes; at that far edge it means the utmost. 不 holds that arrival back: the far point is named and not reached. 於 is the bookish tail, register without reach.

故事 STORY a scene to remember it by

A slope slides down toward the worst point at its foot, and stops on the path before the line is touched.

字源自撰記憶法

框 · Frame

[bad-leaning situation]，[還/也] 不至於 [extreme outcome]

觸 · Trigger

Things are bad or heading the bad way, and you want to deny that they reach the worst case.

序 · The move

1set the situation that leans toward bad

2還／也不至於 + the extreme outcome being ruled outis the thing after 不至於 the far, worse-case point, not just any negated event?

3confirm the outcome is undesirable or extreme, the end of the slopewould a plain 不會 say the same with no sense of 'that far'?

例 · Examples

1臺北Taipei的冬天winter雖然although濕冷damp and cold，但but還still, yet不至於won't go so far as to下雪to snow。

Taipei winters are cold and damp, but it doesn't get cold enough to actually snow.

界 · Boundary

甚至（於）

Same 至於 spine, opposite direction. 甚至於 reaches all the way out to the extreme case; 不至於 names that extreme and stops short of it.

不會

不會 flatly denies an event. 不至於 denies it as the far end of a slope — it grants the situation is bad and only rules out its reaching the worst.

至於

至於 (bare) pivots to a new topic, 'as for …'. 不至於 is the fixed negative of reaching a degree, not a topic switch.

ruling out a neutral event with no extreme: 我今天有點累，不至於上班 → 我今天有點累，但還能上班

treating it as plain negation: 他不至於來 → 他不會來 (use 不至於 only when the event is the bad far case being denied)

extreme case missing the bad/strong reading: 天氣不至於很好 → 天氣不至於壞到不能出門

English 'won't go so far as to / it's not that bad' is built from several words; learners reach for a bare 不會 and lose the 'all the way to the extreme' that 至 carries.