大有作为 (dà yǒu zuò wéi) — (idiom) to have great potential for achievement; able to fully develop one's abilities

Definition

A formal, written idiom meaning 'to have great room for achievement' — used for people, fields, or positions with big potential. Unlike everyday 成功/有出息, it praises future capability in a grand, official register.

idiom
to have great potential for achievementable to fully develop one's abilities

Examples

  • ，大有作为。
    Nián qīng rén zhǐ yào nǔ lì, jiāng lái yí dìng dà yǒu zuò wéi.
    As long as young people work hard, they will certainly have great potential for achievement in the future.
  • 大有作为。
    Hù lián wǎng háng yè shì yí gè dà yǒu zuò wéi de lǐng yù.
    The internet industry is a field with vast prospects.
  • ，大有作为，。
    Zài zhè ge gǎng wèi shàng, tā dà yǒu zuò wéi, zuò chū le hěn duō gòng xiàn.
    In this position, he was able to fully develop his abilities and made many contributions.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

大有greatly have
大dàgreatly有yǒuhave
偏正Modifier + head
作为achievement
作zuòdo为wèido
联合Side by side

大 means greatly, 有 means have, and 作为 joins 作 and 为 as achievement; together they mean having great achievements.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 為; 为 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 為 showed a hand holding an elephant; the simplified 为 is a later shorthand.

Open 为 →

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