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无助 (wú zhù) — helpless

Definition

Describes feeling helpless or无助 when facing a problem you cannot control or solve alone. The first character 无 means 'without', and 助 means 'help' — together: 'without help'.

adjective
helpless

Examples

  • ，无助。
    Miàn duì zhè me dà de zāi nàn, rén men gǎn dào shí fēn wú zhù.
    Faced with such a huge disaster, people felt very helpless.
  • ，无助。
    Tā yí gè rén zài guó wài, gǎn dào tè bié wú zhù.
    He was alone abroad and felt especially helpless.
  • 无助。
    Tā wú zhù dì kàn zhe huǒ chē kāi zǒu le.
    She watched helplessly as the train pulled away.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

无wúwithout
助zhùhelp

无 means without and 助 means help, so it describes having no help.

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 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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