无助于 (wú zhù yú) — to not help, to be unhelpful to; to contribute nothing to, to be of no avail to

Definition

Literary/书面 expression meaning 'not helpful to / contributing nothing to'. Common in formal writing; in speech, 不利于 or 没有用 is more natural.

verb
to not helpto be unhelpful toto contribute nothing toto be of no avail to

Examples

  • 无助于。
    Bào yuàn wú zhù yú jiě jué wèn tí.
    Complaining does not help solve the problem.
  • 无助于。
    Tā de jiàn yì wú zhù yú gǎi shàn xiàn zhuàng.
    His suggestion does not help improve the current situation.
  • 无助于。
    Xiāo jí sī kǎo wú zhù yú nǐ de chéng zhǎng.
    Negative thinking contributes nothing to your growth.

Origin

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 →

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
力力lìstrong arm
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě助zhù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

助 pairs 力, a strong arm, with 且, which gives the sound; the meaning is help with strength.

Open 助 →

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

  • 一一yīflat stream of air
  • 丂丂kǎoto exhale

The old shape of 于 may have pictured an ancient wind instrument. Another explanation reads 一 as a flat stream of air and 丂 as an exhaling mark.

Open 于 →

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