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不厌其烦 (bú yàn-qí fán) — to take great pains; to go out of one's way; to be very patient and meticulous

Definition

Idiom for taking great pains to do something carefully, often repeatedly. Unlike 乐此不疲, the speaker does it out of patience and duty, not enjoyment.

phrase
to take great painsto go out of one's wayto be very patient and meticulous

Examples

  • 不厌其烦。
    Kè fú rén yuán zǒng shì bú yàn-qí fán dì jiě dá gù kè de gè zhǒng wèn tí.
    Customer service staff always take great pains to answer various questions from customers.
  • 不厌其烦，。
    Tā bú yàn-qí fán dì jiào le shí biàn, zhí dào suǒ yǒu xué shēng dōu dǒng le.
    He patiently taught ten times until all the students understood.
  • 不厌其烦。
    Yī shēng bú yàn-qí fán dì xiàng bìng rén jiě shì zhì liáo fāng àn.
    The doctor took great pains to explain the treatment plan to the patient.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

不厌not tire of
不bùnot厌yàntire of
偏正Modifier + head
其烦the trouble
其qíthat烦fántrouble
偏正Modifier + head

不 says no, 厌 means to tire of, and 其烦 means the trouble, giving the sense of not tiring of the trouble.

Characters in this word

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 厭; 厌 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
厂厂chǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
猒
猒yàn厭yàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 厭 combines 厂 as the meaning part with 猒 as the sound part; the simplified 厌 is a later abbreviation.

Open 厌 →

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

The modern form 其 comes from an early drawing of a basket, with a stand added underneath.

Open 其 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 煩; 烦 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 煩, the shape is made from 火 (fire) and 頁 (head).

Open 烦 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set PhrasesPersonality & Traits

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