Definition
顾不得 is a fixed phrase formed by the verb 顾 (to attend to/care for) + 不 (negative) + 得 (potential complement marker). Together it means 'to have no time or ability to attend to something' — you are forced to disregard or ignore something because you're busy, in a hurry, or facing a more urgent priority. It's often used before the thing being disregarded, e.g., 顾不得吃饭 ('can't even take time to eat'). Note that 得 here is read as 'de' (neutral tone), not 'dé'.
r.v.
cannot spare time to attend tohave no choice but to disregard
Examples
- 顾不得。Tā máng de lián chīfàn dōu gù bu de le.He was so busy he couldn't even spare time to eat.
- 顾不得。Dìzhèn shí rénmen gù bu de shōushi xíngli jiù pǎo chūqù le.During the earthquake, people didn't have time to pack — they just ran out.
- ，顾不得。Wèile zhǔnshí gǎndào jīchǎng, wǒ gù bu de tiānqì hǎo bù hǎo le.To get to the airport on time, I had to forget about whether the weather was good or not.
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