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于事无补 (yú shì wú bǔ) — to be of no help; to make no difference to the matter

Definition

Idiom meaning an action won't fix the problem — 'of no help, makes no difference.' Often follows a verb (道歉于事无补) or follows 对 + person/thing.

idiom
to be of no helpto make no difference to the matter

Examples

  • 于事无补，。
    Xiàn zài dào qiàn yǐ yú shì wú bǔ, nǐ yīng gāi zǎo diǎn shuō.
    Apologizing now doesn't help; you should have said it earlier.
  • 于事无补，。
    Bào yuàn yě yú shì wú bǔ, hái shì xiǎng xiǎng zěn me jiě jué ba.
    Complaining won't help either; let's think about how to solve it.
  • 于事无补。
    Tā shuō de nà xiē huà duì wǒ men yú shì wú bǔ.
    What he said was of no use to us.

Origin

Characters in this word

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 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 補; 补 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衤Written in full as衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
甫
甫fǔ補bǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 補 shows 衤 (clothes) beside 甫, which gives the sound; the simplified 补 is a later shorthand, so its shape is not the historical breakdown.

Open 补 →
Appears in
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