无法 (wú fǎ) — unable, incapable

Definition

无法 means 'unable / no way to (do something)' — a written-form negation of ability or possibility, stronger than the colloquial 没法儿 ('can't, no way'). Pairs with a verb to express impossibility.

verb
unableincapable

Examples

  • 无法。
    Wǒ wú fǎ lǐ jiě tā de huà.
    I am unable to understand his words.
  • 无法。
    Zhè zhǒng qíng kuàng wǒ men wú fǎ kòng zhì.
    We cannot control this kind of situation.
  • 无法。
    Tā wú fǎ wàng jì guò qù.
    She is unable to forget the past.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

无wúno/without
法fǎmethod/way

The sense comes from 无 (no/without) plus 法 (method/way), yielding no way to act.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid
Sound part声符shēngfú
盍
盍hé法fǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

Open 法 →
Appears in
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