各得其所 (gè dé qí suǒ) — each in his proper place; everyone gets what they deserve or need

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'each in their proper place' — everyone gets the role or treatment that suits them. A formal, written expression; not used in casual speech.

idiom
each in his proper placeeveryone gets what they deserve or need

Examples

  • ，各得其所，。
    Jīng guò chóng xīn fēn pèi, yuán gōng men dōu gè dé qí suǒ, gōng zuò jī jí xìng tí gāo le.
    After the redistribution, all employees were properly placed, and their work enthusiasm increased.
  • ，各得其所，。
    Zhè ge shè qū lǐ, lǎo rén hé hái zi dōu gè dé qí suǒ, shēng huó dé hěn xìng fú.
    In this community, both the elderly and children are well taken care of, living happily.
  • 各得其所，。
    Zhǐ yào dà jiā gè dé qí suǒ, shè huì jiù néng hé xié fā zhǎn.
    As long as everyone is in their proper place, society can develop harmoniously.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

各 shows a sole of a foot (夂) coming into an entrance (口), for the sense of coming or entering.

Open 各 →

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 modern form 其 comes from an early drawing of a basket, with a stand added underneath.

Open 其 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
斤斤jīnaxe
Sound part声符shēngfú
戶
戶hù所suǒ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

所 pairs 斤, an axe, with 戶, which gives the sound hù; the old meaning was the sound of logging.

Open 所 →

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