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不得已 (bù dé yǐ) — to have no alternative; to be compelled by circumstances; to have no choice but to

Definition

A formal, written phrase meaning 'having no alternative' — used to describe a forced situation rather than to directly say you must do something (that's 只好 or 不得不).

adjective
to have no alternativeto be compelled by circumstancesto have no choice but to

Examples

  • 不得已。
    Tā zhè yàng zuò yě shì bù dé yǐ de.
    He had no choice but to do this.
  • 不得已，。
    bù dé yǐ, Tā zhǐ hǎo jiē shòu le zhè ge tiáo jiàn.
    Having no alternative, he had to accept this condition.
  • 不得已，。
    Zài bù dé yǐ de qíng kuàng xià, wǒ men zhǐ néng fàng qì.
    In a situation where we had no choice, we could only give up.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不得cannot
不bùnot得décan
偏正Modifier + head
已yǐstop

不, 得, and 已 together say one cannot stop, so there is no choice.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 已 may originally have been a drawing of either a snake or a fetus.

Open 已 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts

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