徒劳无功 (tú láo wú gōng) — to make a futile effort; to work in vain; to accomplish nothing despite hard work
Definition
An idiom meaning effort that comes to nothing — 'in vain, futile'. Emphasizes that hard work was wasted because the result was zero, unlike simply being unlucky.
idiom
to make a futile effortto work in vainto accomplish nothing despite hard work
Examples
- ，徒劳无功。Tā huā le hěn duō shí jiān zuò zhè jiàn shì, jié guǒ què shì tú láo wú gōng.He spent a lot of time on this, but it turned out to be a futile effort.
- ，徒劳无功。Rú guǒ fāng fǎ bú duì, zài nǔ lì yě shì tú láo wú gōng.If the method is wrong, no amount of effort will be fruitful.
- ，徒劳无功。Tā men shì tú shuō fú duì fāng, dàn zuì zhōng tú láo wú gōng.They tried to persuade the other side, but in the end it was all in vain.
Appears in
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