孤军作战 (gū jūn zuò zhàn) — to fight alone, to struggle without support

Definition

An idiom for fighting or struggling alone without any support or allies. Emphasizes isolation in the face of difficulty, more vivid and literary than a plain phrase like 独自努力.

idiom

to fight aloneto struggle without support

Examples

，孤军作战，。
Zài zhè ge xiàng mù shàng, tā gū jūn zuò zhàn, méi yǒu rèn hé bāng shǒu.
On this project, he is fighting alone without any helpers.
，孤军作战，。
Gōng sī miàn lín wēi jī, zhǐ néng gū jūn zuò zhàn, xún zhǎo chū lù.
The company is facing a crisis and can only fight alone to find a way out.
孤军作战，。
Tā gū jūn zuò zhàn duō nián, zhōng yú yíng dé le bǐ sài.
He fought alone for many years and finally won the competition.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

孤军lone army

孤gūalone军jūnarmy

偏正Modifier + head

作战fight

作zuòdo战zhànfight

动宾Verb + object

“孤军” is a lone army, and “作战” is to fight, so it means fighting without support.

Characters in this word

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

子瓜孤

Meaning part形符xíngfú

子子zǐchild

Sound part声符shēngfú

瓜

瓜guā孤gū

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

孤 uses 子 (child) to show a child, and 瓜 to give the sound.

Open 孤 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 軍; 军 is its simplified writing.

車車jūcart; chariot
勹勹bāoto surround

In the traditional form 軍, 車 shows the chariot sense, while the part now written 勹 is a sound part, not the 'surround' 勹. Simplified 军 is a later shorthand.

Open 军 →

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

亻乍作

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 →

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