徒然 (tú rán) — in vain; to no avail; merely; only

Definition

Examples

• 他努力了半天，结果徒然浪费了时间。
  Tā nǔ lì le bàn tiān, jié guǒ tú rán làng fèi le shí jiān.
  He tried hard for a long time, but in the end it was a waste of time.
• 这徒然是一个借口，不是真正的原因。
  Zhè tú rán shì yí gè jiè kǒu, bú shì zhēn zhèng de yuán yīn.
  This is merely an excuse, not the real reason.
• 我们徒然耗了一整天，什么也没做成。
  Wǒ men tú rán hào le yì zhěng tiān, shén me yě méi zuò chéng.
  We wasted an entire day in vain and accomplished nothing.