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无力 (wú lì) — to be powerless; to lack the strength or ability (to do something)

Definition

无力 is a verb meaning 'powerless' — focuses on lacking the strength or ability to act, often about a situation or body. 比 无能 (adjective, personal incompetence) and 无能为力 (idiom, total helplessness) more neutral, and pairs with a verb/object like 支付.

verb
to be powerlessto lack the strength or ability (to do something)

Examples

  • ，无力。
    Tā zuì jìn shēn tǐ bù hǎo, zǒu lù dōu gǎn dào wú lì.
    He hasn't been well lately and feels weak even when walking.
  • ，无力。
    Miàn duì zhè zhǒng qíng kuàng, wǒ men wú lì gǎi biàn shén me.
    Faced with this situation, we are powerless to change anything.
  • 无力。
    Gōng sī wú lì zhī fù yuán gōng de gōng zī.
    The company is unable to pay its employees' salaries.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

无wúhave no
力lìstrength

无 (have no) and 力 (strength) together mean lacking strength or power.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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